Xmen:Genesis of Creation
by Ghost Angel14
Summary: Apocalypse. God of Destruction. He was feared and worshiped for millennia. None could match his power. But what if their was someone who could. That could match and counter his strength. An anti-apocalypse, a beginning for his ending, a creator instead of a destroyer. An Genesis instead of an Apocalypse.
1. Chapter 1

X-men;Genesis of Creation

 **Hey hey hey! How ya'll doin this day? So, I never thought I would ever upload a story but I was hit with an incredible influx of inspiration after seeing** **X-men Apocalypse** **, which I think might be my favorite one in all of the movies. Sorry Days of Future Past you got kicked out of the spot. But don't worry, you get a nice second place medal!**

 **This idea has been pushed around and thought about in my head for about a month before I actually decided, why not write it!**

 **Finally post my first fic on the site!**

 **So anyway, this story will have significant changes to the plot of the movie but at the same time will stay relatively similar. This will focus partly on my OC but will still give the main characters the shine they deserve.**

 **I hope I do this right. If not, well this will be good practice for me.**

 **SO WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, AWAAAAAAY WE GO!**

 **Disclaimer(Because I apparently need one):I own nothing. I am not Stan Lee.**

'Regular speech **'**

'SCREAMING **'**

'Thoughts _'_

' _Another language_ **'**

' **Voice change with powers/mood'**

 **P.S. Some slight spiritual themes may be in here, if some people are offended by this, I apologize. If you don't want to continue, I understand. It is ok.**

 **Oh and rated T for slight language, violence, and blood...but not too much.**

 **. . . . . . .**

 _The Age of Apocalypse, was both brutal, and terrifying._

 _His power was unchallengeable. And his rule was absolute. Ruling with the people of the world as his slaves, his empire stretched from far across the known world._

 _He was revered as a God. And believed to be all powerful and all knowing. But he was none of these things. He simply was; a Mutant. The very first mutant. He took the name En Sabah Nur meaning 'The First'. But with his powers of destruction, he took another name, Apocalypse._

 _Wherever he went, death and ruin were quick to follow. Any and all who stood before him were slaughtered with no mercy shown, and no prisoners taken. His armies ravaged the lands and bathed the skies with the cries of the innocent._

 _Leading his armies were his fours generals. The Horsemen of Apocalypse. Imbued with his power they set out to do his bidding._

 _War_

 _Pestilence_

 _Famine_

 _And his second in command and most powerful among them, Death. Their strength alone was enough to level cities. And individually could crush armies. They were simply, too strong for human armies._

 _The world learned to bow its head in submission to him. Believing he was unstoppable, humanity sunk deep into servitude and depression. Forever at his mercy, they extinguished any all fight and resistance in their hearts. Hope for freedom was dead._

 _Only a select few still dared to believe in a world without Apocalypse. Where they could live without fear. These few held hope in the last thing that could not be taken from them, their faith in the Almighty._

 _The true God of the world they believed. Many had given up on an all powerful watcher. And even had simply given up on his very existence. Saying their prayers were given to a being who isn't real. That their prayers were empty. And if he was real, he was not worth calling on for all the suffering he allowed. That he was no better than Apocalypse. And Apocalypse was the real God._

 _But some, through all the suffering, through all the sorrow, through all the bloodshed, had remained faithful and unyielding to the oppression. A humble couple, living on the outskirts of the poorest village, were some of the few who still believed that the Almighty would deliver them from Apocalypse's hands._

 _And that hope, led them to be outcasts among their home. Laughing and taunting them for their faith, all, even their closest friends despised them for what they believed._

 _It was one night when they recited their daily prayers for freedom that for the first time in years. They received an answer. In the form of a falling star, a being made of the purest light with wings of heavenly fire appeared before them._

 _Afraid they asked it,"Oh great being of holy descent, tell us your purpose here so that we may not fear your presence!"_

 _In a voice of a thousand souls the being replied,"The Almighty sends me to tell you of his plans for you!"_

" _Oh great one, we do not understand!"_

" _The Almighty has heard your pleas and has sent me to deliver unto you a message."_

 _They were astonished and afraid of what this meant._

" _Listen well, ye of great faith!" it boomed in its great voice."In your hearts are spirits of trust in the Almighty's power. Because of your perseverance he has chosen you to be instruments of his will!"_

 _The wife threw up her hands in reverence and shouted praises from her mouth, while the husband fell to his knees and wept,"We shall do as we are told! Tell us one of great purity! What will the Almighty have us do?"_

 _Stretching out his hand, the being of pure radiance placed it upon the wife's head._

" _You and your husband are to bear a child. He will be born on the twelfth day of the ninth moon. And he will be one of great strength. The Almighty will put his spirit in him through his heart and soul, and he will be given power to counter the false God!"_

 _They could only stare in awe of his proclamation._

" _Yes holy one we will!"the wife exclaimed."We will love him with all our heart and soul, and will teach him all he needs to know to one day battle his enemy!"_

" _Be prepared little ones, the eyes of the enemy will be on you! You must be prepared to keep yourselves strong in faith and body. Do not lose hope! For it was your belief that kept you safe this long. Have no fear and cast your eyes to the Almighty's light! For it will be your guide!"_

 _The couple nodded in understanding and in their hearts steeled vowing to do so...no matter the cost._

 _And in a sudden flash the great being had vanished away, as quickly as it had appeared. The couple, left in their reverence stayed silent for all the night and did not speak again until the morning. Not noticing the silent viewer that had witnessed the entire spectacle from the outside._

 _And so, the two began their work preparing everything for the arrival of the child. Keeping the knowledge they held to only themselves. Unknown to them however, that the viewer-turning out to be a one of the villagers- from their window had gone out and had told the rest of the village of what had transpired that night. And the news spread like a fire over a dry forest. The world was starting to know the warmth and light of hope in the cold darkness of reality_

 _The husband and wife were visited by travelers from all over the world who had heard of the birth of the child who would become their savior. They were showered with gifts and treasures and made to feel like royalty. But to them, it was all meaningless. They had begged and pleaded for the gifts to stop and that the news of the child not be known, but they were not heard over the cheers of jubilation._

 _And finally, the time had come._

 _Like the angel had told them, the child came on the twelfth day of the ninth moon and what a day it was. Crowds by the thousands had come to see the baby be born. Cheers and festivals were held. The crowd had chanted,"Lilmubtadiiyn! Lilmubtadiiyn!_ _ **(A/N:Lil-moob-tadi-ina)**_ _" over and over, all over the world. Which had simply meant,'The beginner.' For he would be the he who would save them from the hands of Apocalypse and would begin a new era for humanity. But his parents had named him with the idea of his true powers, the powers of creation, the anti-apocalypse; Genesis._

 _So loud were these cheers, that they reached the ears of all in the world. And unfortunately it truly was everyone._

 _Apocalypse, having heard of the child through all his spies and through talk amongst his empire, had kept close watch on his kingdom and had tightened his hold to remind the people who ruled this life they held._

 _But he was surprised to find that people were actually...fighting back. They were resisting his control. It started off small, from simple disobedience to laws and decrees,to the point where patrolling soldiers were attacked and forced to flee from areas. Riots were becoming a frequent issue and plots of uprisings were starting to come up among the people. And with every problem crushed, more seemed to arise from out of the ashes. Worse yet, the fools who stood up to his rule entered death without question, and yet it seemed these people...they showed no fear. Not of his armies or his powers. They held strong and were not afraid. This had shaken him somewhat. When his lieutenant had reported to him on the public executions that those who were put to death showed no remorse or despair. But instead stood proud and even...happy._

 _What was most disturbing however was that before each one was killed, they screamed,"Alnnsar lilmubtadiiyn!"...Victory to the Beginner._

 _Small rebel groups he could crush. But an entire empires revolution could prove to be...troublesome. He had created a world where_ _ **he**_ _was seen as_ _ **God**_ _. Where he was the absolute ruler. And any who dared oppose could and would be destroyed. Fear was the key to this. The fear to think, breathe and so much as even step in the wrong direction could end horribly for you. Fear shows the weakness in humans. Fear is what controls every move they make. So fear was his ally, but he would never truly know it. Fear is for the weak. And he was not so. For it was only the strong who survive. That is how it should be, and that is how it is. But, with this new life, this child. It took away the fear. It took away the hopelessness they felt. It gave them a reason to fight. Something to fight for. Something to cast their dreams on. Where they could do as they pleased because they knew how it would all end._

 _Such sheer and utter confidence and boldness, it was something that gave him great discomfort. To think that those..._ _ **worms**_ _would dare think themselves untouchable when they quite clearly he had sent hordes of them to death!_

 _The Gall!_

 _The Nerve!_

 _The utter_ _ **Arrogance..!**_

 _His teeth ground in complete and utter fury._ _ **How Dare they!**_

 _They should know their place! And they would if not for that child._

 _ **That Child!**_

 _And so, his choice was clear. He would allow the peoples spirits to grow, let them revel in their false hope before he would take their dreams, and before their very eyes, crush it._

 _After only a year of the child's birth Apocalypse set out to do the unthinkable._

 _He lead his armies and laid waste to the thriving village. Turning the land to nothing but fire and ash as his powers of destruction was set loose upon the world. After hearing of the horrible deed done so by the dark lord himself, humanity trembled at his ruthlessness and the rekindled spark inside their hearts, had this time, been permanently snuffed out, thinking their savior was dead._

 _Fortunately the couple had been able to rescue the child from harm._

 _But at the cost of their own lives. They were very brave, but not strong enough to defend themselves. They loved the child with all they had, and even though their time was short with their son, he would always have a place in their hearts._

 _That is all I know of my mother and father._

 _I was taken in and trained by a friend of my parents._

 _From him I learned hand to hand combat, mastery of weapons, strategy of battle, and even how to control my mutant abilities. For he himself was a mutant as well. And he had drilled into me the studies and practices of following the Almighty's will._

 _When I had turned into a young man I had gone and traveled the world. I had seen and witnessed things that would forever impact my look on the world and its ways. I had been a beggar, a bandit, a mercenary, and even a slave. All of this I went through, to then be brought back to the will of the Almighty, and would face and defeat my mortal enemy._

 _I had met many other mutants along my travels and had even gotten some to join me in my mission to defeat En Sabah Nur._

 _It was they who faced his horsemen while I fought him. And for that, I am eternally grateful for them and hope the Almighty hold them in his grace._

 _When the time came to face my enemy, I was prepared for the worst._

 _For as strong as I had become in my life. I would not take my opponent so lightly like I had done in my youth._

 _He was a real threat. And I was ready to face it._

 _Our battle was that of legends._

 _I had fought the false God within his own temple. Our powers clashed against one another in a glorious display of our own mutant abilities. But it was not until the battle had drawn out that I had come to a horrid realization. When I had stabbed the malicious self proclaimed deity through his chest, he did not die, not only did he live, but before my very eyes...he healed._

 _The false God had taken a power that was not his and had used it to make himself...immortal._

 _Using my surprise to his advantage, Apocalypse struck me down in a blow that nearly ended my life there and then. But I held strong and let the Almighty guide my hand in my time of weakness. Since I could not kill the false God, I had only one other option...to seal him away._

 _So, in a final clash of wills, our powers fought each other._

 _The Black Hand of Destruction vs The White Flame of Creation._

 _Death vs Life_

 _Beginning vs End_

 _Apocalypse vs Genesis_

 _Summoning all the strength I had left, I was able to seal Apocalypse within a crystal sarcophagus._

 _Our bout had crumbled the temple to ruins and all but the underground chambers were left in tact where I had sealed him away._

 _I wish I knew exactly what had transpired in the outside world._

 _I wish to know if my comrades had lived and how the world adjusted to its newly acquired freedom._

 _I wished to see the smiles of joy as the people celebrated the defeat of the false God._

 _But I could not._

 _For I had connected the seal to my own life, as long as I lived, the seal would hold, and Apocalypse would forever slumber, never to rise out of his tomb._

 _And so it was here I have stayed. Guarding the entrance to his eternal resting place. I was convinced that my fight was over for the time. But as it turned out._

 _My fight would continue for several more centuries. For I could have never foreseen what he had done. In imbuing his generals with his power, they first had to submit to him, their souls. And so he was in control of what happened to them. When they were slain their souls did not depart to the next world, instead, they came back. He had created a cycle of reincarnation for his generals._

 _Every few decades they would choose a new life, stealing away the potential for someone else to have a life. They would journey to this place, and sought to kill me to release their master from his imprisonment. But I would not back down. I was forced to drive them back until they retreated or until...they had fallen. And with each one that dies, I feel a deeper sense of guilt and sadness for the innocent souls that were corrupted. All because of his greed._

 _The false Gods crimes ran deep, and one day, he would pay dearly for all the suffering for he had caused, and I would be there to make sure of it._

 _X.X.X.X.X_

 **Cairo Egypt,1876 A.D**

The small village was quiet in the night compared to its usual hustle and bustle in the daytime where markets were busy with customers looking to bargain for the goods within the stalls. The stone buildings shone with the light of controlled fire within the stoves. In the center of the village sat a small tavern with little to no one inside the building besides the caretaker.

Except for two.

In the corner of the old building sat a two individuals beside one another in a deathly silence. Both wore brown cloaks to conceal themselves from any even though no one besides the man who sat behind the counter of the inn.

The one to the left who had a slim womanly build leaned back in the chair with her arms and legs crossed, her boot bobbing slowly in patience. Unlike the other who had a broad masculine strength hidden in his cloak, was hunched over the table and drumming his fingers rapidly. And had been doing so for the past hour. The woman's patience had been thinning with each passing minute of the constant tapping against the table.

With her teeth grit in frustration she finally let loose.

" _Would you stop your incessant drumming already_!"the first snapped in irritation. The voice was strong and feminine and carried a hint of an accent.

The drumming ceased and the hooded figure turned to the woman.

A soft growl was what was given in return.

" _Spare me your rage, I do not care for it_." she said with a dismissive wave. With a grunt the figure turned away.

" _How long are those two going to take!_ " the man said with a snarl upon his lips. His voice was gravelly and sounded more like a strange hiss then a voice. The woman merely rolled her eyes.

" _If you had even a speck of patience within that head of yours you'd realize that we have only been here for an hour,_ " she said.

" _I care not for how long we've been here! I'm getting anxious!"._

" _Well you will just have to wait then, for we are not going to draw any attention to ourselves here._ "

The man merely let out an animalistic growl. The innkeeper looked up from the glass he was cleaning at the strange sound.

Eyeing the two suspiciously he set back to cleaning his glasses and taking inventory of his beverages.

" _That old fool has been looking at us from the moment we arrived, let me gut him_ ,"the man snarled.

" _Yes well,_ " the woman began in a neutral tone," _We are both the only ones here at the moment and not to mention hidden from him, so it is natural for humans to be nervous of the unknown factor, which we both are_."

" _Then allow me to introduce him to us,_ ".

He moved to stand.

" _Sit_."She commanded.

His head whipped around to her.

" _You dare to order me-!?"_

" _Sit,_ "She says again.

" _No, besides, killing him will put me slightly at ease_."

" _SIT! Or I will make you do it._ "She says with a deadly glare upon her face.

The man's dark eyes match her glare perfectly.

In a tense silence the two stare at each other with steely resolve in their faces. But, aware of the power the woman held in her hands, he knew that to continue would be catastrophic for him. He could feel the pressure amongst his sides-it was partially choking him-and knew this to be her subtle warning. So with heavy reluctance he slowly sat back down. And the pressure left, allowing him to breathe easily again.

The glare did not leave the woman's face until she was certain that he would not try anything again.

" _Try to keep yourself in check, we have something very important to do, and if one thing goes wrong then we could very well be dead before we have a chance to accomplish our goal_."She said.

He merely grunted in stubborn acceptance.

' _Why couldn't I have found one the others to be with?_ 'She laments with an annoyed eyeroll.

The sound of the front door being pushed open was enough to break her from her thoughts.

Looking up she noticed two more cloaked individuals step inside the small inn. One male, and one female. She immediately locked eyes with the woman and felt a sense of recognition pass through her. Even though she had never seen them once in her life, she knew them for far longer than she had been alive.

As the two made their way to their table she had noticed that her compatriot had calmed slightly and had his black eyes glued to the approaching pair.

When the two reached them they simply stood and stared at one another, evaluating, searching, trying to see past the hoods of their cloaks and try to find a trace of familiarity behind the shadows.

Slowly the woman reached to her right and slid a chair away from another table, the the legs making an agonizing screeching sound that made her shiver in discomfort. Her acquaintance tensing with the sound and eyeing the two more intensely. Mentally fighting his urge to leap over the table and rip the two to shreds most likely.

The woman then slowly took a seat in front of them and continued to eye the two with bright amber eyes, the rest of her face concealed by the shadow of her cloak's hood.

The silence was deafening between the four and she had noticed that the male next to the woman had yet to take a chair, and looked like he would not do so for a while. This gave her a slight bit of unease.

While she thought of a way to approach the situation, the woman suddenly broke the silence," _Are we all in control_?"

She analyzed the question carefully before finally understanding.

" _Yes, we are_."She responded evenly.

The woman looked deeper into her eyes, which due to the pale yellow of her irises made it hard not to shiver in fear, before nodding her head.

" _Mujaea_ ,"

She started simply at the title.

Turning to her companion the woman took in his hunched position, the way he fidgeted on his seat, and kept his muscles tense in case of a coming attack before stating simply," _Harb_."

Harb nodded towards her.

Mujaea turned her eyes to the silent companion and spoke softly," _Waba_ '."

He gave no outward sign of verification and simply stayed still and silent. And with the bandages over his face from what she could see, she would not get a facial confirmation either.

Lastly, Mujaea turned to the woman and spoke with a slight tremor in her voice," _Almawt_." She received a nod in return.

" _So_ ,"Almawt began," _It seems we are all here_."

" _So it seems_ ,"Mujaea agreed.

Almawt looked to the others around her and decided on her next words.

" _I would say that it is nice to see all of you after so long but that would be a lie_." They all felt a bit of spite at her words.

" _And besides, we have far too much to discuss_ ," she said while clasping her hands together and leaning forward on the table.

" _Such as_?"Harb questioned.

" _For one, our plan of attack_ ,"She answered.

" _What need of we for a plan?_ "Harb said while pounding his fist against the table." _All we need to do is to go in and tear the bastard apart!_ "

" _Oh yes, wonderful idea, simply genius, I wonder why none of us have ever thought of that before today,_ "Almawt said with mocking sarcasm heavy in her voice.

Harb bristled and growled threateningly towards her, she merely raised an eyebrow in amusement.

" _If only going in and killing the fool was as easy as it is said, but we must not forget, he is powerful, more so than any one of us. And he is after all, the one who defeated our master_ ," Mujaea spoke through grit teeth.

Her words sparked a sense of anger and vengeance within their hearts.

Harb shook with barely contained rage, Waba released a low buzzing sound from his abdomen, and Almawt's clasped fingers tightened until they started to turn white from the loss of blood circulation.

To be reminded of that failure all those years ago. It never failed to send a spark of bitterness through them, their pride as the strongest had been severely damaged and had continued to be done so for centuries.

And only one thing could repair it. But the goal was next to impossible.

Almawt was the first to recompose herself with a deep breathe.

" _Precisely. Which is why we need a plan. We cannot take our enemy lightly. So we have to be smart and not just charge in recklessly,_ " She said turning her head to look at Harb for the last sentence. Harb snarled before turning away.

" _Listen well, all of you_ ,"Almawt began in her stern and commanding voice.

" _The masters patience with us is wearing thin. We cannot keep this cycle up much longer before he just decides to throw us to the darkest corners of the underworld._ "

That made all of them nervous. They had all been escaping complete death for millennia, and the thought that they would no longer be able to run away from their dark fates left them paralysed in fear.

" _H-How do you know this_?" Mujaea stuttered.

Almawt breathed in and out slowly to brace herself for the story.

" _It was during my search for a new host. I had been searching for a powerful soul to latch onto when it happened,_ ". She paused.

" _I heard the master's voice resonate in my head. He was angry, he ranted and raged about being tired of waiting for us to set him free_."

She seemed to suppress a shiver as she continued in a wavering voice," _He gave me his warning, that if we did not free him soon…_ "

She let out a shuddering breath," _He said he would allow the Almighty's judgement to come upon us._ "

If they were afraid before, they were absolutely terrified now.

Mujaea brought a hand up to her mouth to keep herself from vomiting in abject horror.

'No no no no no no no!' She thought with sheer terror.

But in her heart she knew that this would come to pass. If they didn't succeed and soon, then their worst nightmare would be laid out before them in all its hideous glory.

" _So,_ " Almawt spoke bringing them out of their thoughts." _I can not express enough, the importance of our success. If we fail, it could very well be the complete end of all of us. And nothing will be able to save us from that_."

They all nodded in understanding.

" _Let us put aside our old rivalries and think together so that we all might all walk out of this alive_."

They nodded again.

Almawt, satisfied with their willingness to listen began in a much tamer voice," _Now then, we know that our enemy is strong. And yet we do not fully know the extent of his powers. For, I hate to admit it, but he has never had to use all of his strength against us,_ ".

They all glowered at this.

" _But he is not without weakness. And that weakness...is his heart._ "

Mujaea raised an eyebrow and waited for an explanation.

" _Think about it,"_ She insisted," _For all the years we have battled him, have you all not noticed a pattern in our battles_?"

She paused before continuing," _The fool gives us all a chance to retreat. He's held back in our battles not because he does not feel threatened by us, but because the fool actually tries to give us a chance to run away._ "

Realization started to dawn as Almawt continued," _The fool has grown up on the idea of being merciful, to believe in endless second chances, and to actually_ _ **love**_ _his enemies instead of hating them!_ ".

Harb scoffed at the notion, while Mujaea simply snickered.

What a ridiculous notion.

" _The idiot is weak and soft. The only reason he bests us is because we force his hand in the end. But he truly does not wish for more bloodshed upon his hands. The blood of the 'innocent souls' that have been lost to our Lord's will. The poor unfortunate ones who had been captured by the four generals._ " Almawt smiled in dark humor.

The other three simply kept their attention in rapt attention on her, their hearts pounding with the potential for victory.

" _For years I have known this but have never thought much of it till now_." She admitted.

" _Wait!_ " Harb raged," _You have known this for years and yet you have not told us of this til now?!"_

Keeping herself composed she responded evenly," _Do you find issue with this?"_

Harb sneered in disgust, _"Ugh, your arrogance knows no bounds! You thought that this information could not be trusted to us, that we would not know what to do with it. Do you believe us so incompetent?_ "

" _Well if it took me telling you this after so long for you to notice, that should answer your own question now shouldn't it?_ " She deadpanned.

With an absolutely monstrous look in his eye Harb stood knocking the chair to the floor.

Staring into her yellow eyes, Harb hissed," _You would do well to watch your tongue before I rip it out of your mouth!"_

Mujaea looked nervously between the two while Waba continued to stand silently.

With a laugh she stood to her feet and looked him right in his black shark like eyes.

Unafraid she replied," _And you would do well to remember who it is you address, before I destroy you long before our enemy can even think of you_."

He bared his teeth at the challenge.

" _I know perfectly well who I am speaking too. An arrogant fool who forgets their place far too often. And so you don't forget I am just gonna say it for you._ _ **You. Are. Not. APOCALYPSE!**_ " He bellowed." _We hold no allegiance to you! You may have been his second in command but that means very little to me now. He is who I swore allegiance to. NOT YOU! If it were not for the fact that the master might need you, I allow you to live when I would sooner have you in my teeth!"_

Panting from his rant, Harb stared at her waiting for her reaction.

Almawt stared back at him for a few seconds before reaching for her hood. Pulling it back allowed her jet black hair to fall down between her shoulder blades.

Her skin was a beautiful bronze that could only be attained through years of desert living. The delicate almond eyes that held her mesmerizing amber irises were narrowed as they focused in on Marb and her soft pink lips were set in a firm frown.

Harb held her stare before he was suddenly blasted off his feet by an _**intense**_ wave of heat.

Falling onto his back he looked up with wide eyes and a slightly gaping maw. His hood-having being blown back by the wave-was now down exposing his pale brown skin and a face that seemed more animal than man with an elongated jaw barely covering long sharp black tipped fangs and pointed cheekbones that poked out his face.

His eyes, were his most intimidating feature. Deep pools of black that were endless and empty, a void of darkness which none escaped from, the only thing found in them usually were hate and bloodlust.

Now they held fear.

With her eyes burning in barely contained rage she cast them down to the floored brute and sneered.

" _I. Am. Your. Superior. You_ _ **NEVER**_ _question my authority!_ "

The air started to distort with the heat from her anger and her sneer only grew as she looked at him.

" _Apocalypse named ME second in command. He gave ME the position of Almawt! For the single reason that I AM THE STRONGEST_!"

In her declaration steam started to seep from her skin.

" _I am more powerful than a loathsome oaf like you could ever dream of!"She ranted."I could destroy you with but a single finger. And you would do well to remember that the next time you want to try to rise to power_." She leveled an intimidating glare towards him.

" _And never put to question my allegiance to the master._ _ **He**_ _is my Lord._ _ **He**_ _reigns sovereign. I serve_ _ **him**_ _. But I rule over you. As is how his will dictates_."

With a sigh her anger dissolved and fizzled away, but not before she looks down to him once more saying," _I will say this once and only once. If you cross me, I will deliver your head to the master as offering_."

With the burning heat now gone from the room, the air now seemed frigid compared to its former heated state.

Harb looked over Almawt, fear marring his already ugly features, and breathed a sigh of relief. But was quickly replaced with his usual fury.

How dare she…

HOW DARE SHE!

She made him look weak! Him!

His breathing became more rapid as the air within his lungs ignited and became fire. His fists clenched so tight his bones felt the pressure and his fangs grounded against one another.

He would make her pay...he would have her blood…!

Baring his fangs he tensed and prepared to launch himself to her to rip her head off!

But was halted when Mujaea suddenly put herself between the them.

Seeing the fight that was about to break out, Mujaea moved swiftly and placed herself in between the riled up powerhouses.

Her hood flew back with her movement allowing her face to be seen.

She was young. Very young.

Her youthful face was a light caramel with hazel eyes and light brown hair in a tight bun atop her head.

With her arms outstretched to both of them-a subtle warning-she called out to them in an appeasing voice," _Hold yourselves my fellow generals_!"

With both their eyes zoned in on her she relaxed slightly but remained ready in course of sudden action.

" _Did we not only just agree to withhold old rivalries so that we may come together to destroy the real enemy before us_?"

In seeing they were unresponsive she continued," _I beg of both of you, let us carry out our mission. I know that the hatred you both carry for one another runs deep within your souls but we cannot allow petty feelings to block our main goal! I implore you both to find the wisdom to know when is the right time to settle your long heated rivalry_!" She pleaded.

All was silent where both looked upon her and meditated upon her words.

For two minutes all was still before Almawt laughed.

" _Always the negotiator aren't you Mujaea?_ "She chuckled. Mujaea lowered her arms and released a breathe.

" _Yes well, someone must be with this group of ours. Or else we all would off torn each other apart by now_." She deadpanned.

Taking a closer look at her, Almawt raised her eyebrow in questioning.

" _This ones looks to still be a child. I'd say near early twenties._ "

Mujaea smiles in pride and clenches her fist." _She may be young but she is a powerful child. I have been with her since birth._ " With an almost whisper she softly adds," _Her name was Sayla_."

Her eyes drift to the floor in reflection." _I would like to think that if things had been different...I would of wanted a daughter just like her._ "

Almawt laughs mockingly." _Oh really. How nice. But she has given her soul to you. And thus given it to the master. She now serves a greater purpose_."

" _Yes...a greater purpose._ "She says with her eyes still downcast.

Suddenly Waba, after having been silent the whole time, straightened his tall stature. Taking notice Almawt turned to him.

" _Have you found it_?" She inquires.

He responds with a slow nod.

" _Found what_?"Mujaea asks.

" _The temple_."

" _What_?"

" _What need of we to look for the temple_!"Harb snapped." _It has been in the same place for millennia_."

With a wayward glare to silence him, Almawt explained," _Yes, but we have come across an unforeseen obstacle. By some means, our enemy has found a way to get the winds to move and shift the desert sand to change the path to the temple._ "

Grimacing she continued," _I had set out to reach the temple but had found myself walking and circles. I had nearly collapsed from dehydration-_ "

" _Pity._ " Harb remarked.

" _...before I had realized what was happening_." She finished while glaring at Harb.

Rubbing her chin in thought, Mujaea asked," _So if the winds have been keeping us from reaching the path then how are you able to find it Waba_?"

As if answering her question, a low buzzing was heard before it became louder and a whole swarm of insects flew in from the cracks from the walls before coming to rest on Waba's bandaged form.

Mujaea shivered in disgust to see the insects dig themselves under his bandages and leave slight bulges before they disappeared.

Seeing her face, Almawt smiled in amusement." _I had a similar reaction the first time I saw that as well. But to answer your question, Waba has had some of his insects burrow into the sand and place themselves at the entrance of the temple. So, no matter how much the wind blows, Waba will still be able to locate it_."

Mujaea nodded in understanding before turning her gaze back to Waba.

" _Very useful. But could you possibly have chosen a mutant with a much less...disturbing power_?"

Waba remained speechless.

" _Alright then_ ,"Almawt stated," _Now that we have our secure path to the temple I believe we must be on our way_."

She suddenly paused.

" _We just have one thing to take care of first_." Turning her head she looked over to the bar counter.

Harb, understanding the situation, got up from the floor and stalked over to the counter and reached over.

Seconds later he hauled the innkeeper from underneath and pulled him over the counter. Dragging him over to the others by the back of his shirt he slammed the small man on the table they surrounded.

Looking down at him Almawt smiled in seeing the fear in the man's eyes. It was always so nice to see the terror and reverence they got from humans. It was only natural. Its how it should be when ants look up to giants.

" _It seems like we have had a little audience this whole time._ " Almawt teased.

She traced the man's chin seductively and looked into his eyes, her lashes fluttering rapidly.

" _Oh isn't he so cute when he shivering in terror_ ,"She cooed.

The poor man whimpered and shook while holding his hands up placatingly.

" _I knew that the little worm was watching us,_ "Harb snarled. Turning to Mujaea he growled," _You should've just let me kill him_!"

The man let out a cry.

" _Silence_!"Harb roared.

He quieted but continued to whimper.

Rolling her eyes,Mujaea retorted," _Fine I should've let you kill him. It looks like your gonna have your chance after all however._ "

Harb smiled demonically to the man.

The man's eyes widened in fear at the black tipped fangs in his mouth.

" _Now hold on for a second_."Almawt commanded lightly.

Harb scowled at her.

Ignoring him she kept her eyes firmly planted on the trapped innkeeper. " _Now,_ "She purred," _Why don't you tell me what it is exactly you heard from us_."

The man continued to shiver in fear and remained silent.

Pouting cutely she asked coyly," _Oh what's the matter. Are you afraid of me? Please don't be. I don't want you to be afraid of me_."

Smiling slyly she added," _Especially when it's not me you have to fear._ "

His eyes darted to who was holding him down.

" _While it's true that Harb most certainly wants your blood. It's not him._ "She giggled.

He looked to Mujaea.

" _You're getting warmer_."

Finally he turned to the most silent individual among them.

" _Now your getting it_." She cheered.

His eyes darted over whatever part of Waba he could see, which mattered not because it seemed his entire body was covered in bandages.

" _Now I know what you're thinking,_ " She teased." _While he might not seem so bad, he is probably the one who is capable of giving you one of the most painful and slow deaths out of all of us_."

His breath started to hitch at the information. His mind started to work in overdrive at the possibilities. He had seen the insects disappear inside his body, along with the other strange abilities the others had shown.

Oh how he wished he had simply closed early like he had wanted too, but he had to be greedy and try to score a little extra cash.

His greed might be the end of him.

But how was he to know that he would be sheltering these, these...monsters!

Turning his head back to her Almawt leaned in and whispered softly into his ear," _Tell me, have you ever had thousands of insects crawling inside your body_?"

The man promptly wept at the idea.

" _I thought not_!"Almawt said excitedly.

" _I-I don't know anything_ ,"He cried." _I-I swear!_ "

Almawt pouted again.

" _Aww, don't cry,_ "She cooed while putting a slim finger to his trembling lips.

He only sobbed harder.

Mujaea crossed her arms and tapped her fingers against her arm impatiently.

" _I thought you said we should get going_."She questioned with an annoyed eyebrow raised to their leader.

Almawt huffed and turned away softly muttering," _You're no fun_."

Smiling amorously once more to the trapped man she leaned in close and whispered breathlessly," _I'm sorry, but it seems our time together has come to an end. And so soon._ " She pouted," _If only we would have more time together later. But i'm afraid that's impossible._ "

Turning to Harb she ordered," _Take him to the back and make it quick_."

The man's eyes widened in terror while Harb smiled evilly at him.

Picking him up Harb dragged him to the back room. But not before the doomed man screamed to Almawt," _What are you?!_ "

Smiling slyly she waved.

" _The Gods_."

All they heard was the sound of Harb's animalistic growls and grunts before a scream.

" _Graaah!_ "

 **Crack**

A sickening noise greeted the air before the sound of ripping flesh was heard.

Moments later Harb came out with a demonic grin dripping with blood on his face, his dark eyes shining in delight and a scarlet splash covering the front of his cloak.

" _Are you appeased?_ "Almawt asked with a raised eyebrow.

Wiping the poor man's blood and flesh from his lips Harb smiled cruelly," _Slightly, but now I thirst for more_."

Matching his smirk, she replied," _And you will have it. Soon. And the blood you have will be the best you have ever tasted_."

Harb's smile stretched across his face and his eyes danced with insanity.

Turning to the quiet giant of a man, Almawt gestured," _Alright Waba, lead the way."_

He slowly turned and walked out of the door with the others following behind him.

Soon they would have their vengeance.

X.X.X.X.X.

 **Libyan Desert**

The four had begun the trudge into the desert on horseback.

They had 'borrowed' the horses from the unfortunate innkeepers stables and had been wandering the desert ever since they had left.

Like Almawt had warned, the desert winds were strong and frequent and had been shifting the sand dunes so as to throw them off the trail. It took several reassurances from Almawt that while it seemed that they were lost to the wilds of the desert, they were still on course.

'Waba knows the way' was what was frequently being told if either Mujaea or Harb said anything.

'I sure hope so.' Mujaea thought miserably.

Night had come long ago and it had made the desert air very frigid. And all she had was her cloak to try and capture and hold whatever heat she produced. And it wasn't doing a very good job.

And if not for the dim light of the crescent moon, they would all be completely blind. And she did not like walking blind. In any situation.

"I should have shared a horse with Almawt."She grumbled.

She had seen that her powers had something to do with heat, so she should have simply insisted on riding with her and made up a silly excuse like it would of been less troublesome for everyone to have a horse and take care of it for a time.

She scoffed at her own idea.

Knowing her, she probably would've just mocked her for not being able to handle a little chill.

She had kept silent in her and Harb's argument but had agreed to what he was saying.

Almawt was always arrogant, always the one on the pedestal. Always the one the master turned to.

She had proved she was a very capable warrior, and a very powerful mutant. Which is why the master favored her so much.

Mujaea had no doubt that in a battle against all of them, Almawt would win with hardly an issue. And would do so with an arrogant smile upon her face.

It was one of the reasons she had detested and respected her so much. She could be called jealous, she'd admit, but it mattered not. They all were here, not for the camaraderie of the group but for En Sabah Nur himself.

They each dealt with one another for the loyalty they carried for him was stronger than any petty feelings could hope to break.

Him, and him alone they stood for. And it would be so, for all eternity.

" _How much further is it_?"Harb called out.

" _Not too far now. Why? I thought you were appeased for now_."Almawt replied without turning from her horse.

Harb scoffed," _One lowly fools blood. That would never satisfy me._ "

" _Nothing satisfies you_ ,"Mujaea dryly comments.

With a hiss in her direction Harb sulked on his steed.

Mujaea rolled her eyes in exasperation.

Always bloodthirsty, always ready for battle, and a temperament that put some wild beasts to shame, Harb was the second hardest to cooperate with. You would be wise to stay away from him if he was not able to spill blood after only two hours. Or you might just be his next victim.

Slowly her eyes fell to the one leading the group in the front to their destination.

Waba.

He was...an anomaly.

He was the silent one. Never really speaking unless necessary. He was the easiest to be around. And never really in a hurry to go out and commit mass murder just for glory. But that did not mean he was a slouch.

She remembered several times where he was able to hold his own against Almawt for the longest out of them.

It was this reason and this reason alone, that Almawt slightly respected him and thus gave him the least amount of grief. Part of it she suspected was out of fear as well. Though she knew Almawt would never admit that.

She was jolted out of her thoughts when Waba suddenly halted his horse. And everyone followed his lead.

She watched as he simply sat completely still for a whole minute before he dismounted his horse.

Walking a few steps ahead of the group he stopped and waited.

The others stayed still and quiet as if waiting for something to happen.

Waba suddenly jolted, causing the others to jump as well.

Bending down he held his bandaged hand down to the ground.

And soon a giant scarab crawled out of the sand and into his open palm before submerging underneath the bandages and disappearing.

Mujaea shivered again. She'd never get used to that.

" _Is this the spot_?"Almawt called to him.

His slow nod confirmed her question.

" _Harb!_ "

Turning his head to her he raised a brow as if to say 'what?'.

" _Dig up the entrance_." She commanded.

Growling at the order he dismounted and walked over to the spot.

Pushing Waba away, which earned a disapproving buzz from him, Harb used his enhanced strength to dig up the ground.

In seconds he had dug up six feet of sand and kept going.

Mounds of sand were tossed behind him and were carried off in the winds.

For ten minutes he dug a steep hill down, then it was quiet.

 **Boom!**

A loud smashing sound was heard before Harb called out," _Come!_ "

Dismounting, Almawt and Mujaea walked over to the steep hill of sand before sliding down, Waba immediately going after them.

They stopped in a big opening of sand where a big wall of stone sat. But which now had a big newly made hole courtesy of Harb.

Looking around the spacious area Almawt commented," _This is impressive, I didn't think you moved enough sand to give us so much room around here_."

" _I didn't,_ "He growled." _This was here when I was digging, I just gave us an entrance_."

" _Ah I see. I should not put so much expectation on you, my mistake_."

He snarled at her in warning.

" _Now is not the time for this,_ "Mujaea warned the two." _I think you two must understand just what we're doing. We are about to face one of the most dangerous beings to ever live. We have no room for error or mistake. We have to be ready._ "

The two silenced their bickering before it could start.

" _Almawt gave us an edge we could potentially use. Now we must use it. So when we attack we have to look for the right time. As soon as he shows his weakness we all have to go for it._ "

They all stared at her before nodding.

" _She is right_ ,"Almawt said. The all looked to her in surprise.

" _We may only have one chance each. The moment the fool lets his guard down is the moment we strike. If for even a moment we hesitate, it could very well be the death of us_."

Crossing her arms she looked to all of them individually.

"I _f you have any fear, leave it. If you have any doubt, destroy it. If you get knocked down get up. And if you get hurt, walk it off_."

Her eyes narrowed in determination she spoke strongly," _The time for games is over. Now, we begin the fight_."

They all nodded in understanding.

Turning to the hole, the four walked through and entered the old temple. The ceiling was high, over sixty feet it seemed, and held by a stone pillars that were cracked and weakened through time.

The smooth rock path was just as beat up and even the walls were dust covered and rotted.

Walking in through the hole, they all couldn't help but reflect on the temples appearance.

Waba looked on silently and a small buzzing emanated from his chest.

Harb snarled and hissed in displeasure.

Mujaea looked around sullenly and let out a small sigh.

And Almawt kept her face emotionless.

" _I know that we have been here time and time again, yet I cannot help but think about how this place has fallen._ " Mujaea said.

Almawt nodded.

" _It used to be so glorious. And now look at it. A mere shadow to its former self,_ "She hissed.

" _We shall make it whole again, and even better than before. Once this is all over_."Mujaea comforted.

With a nod she went ahead.

The four made their way deeper into the temple, seeing multiple painting and portrayals of Apocalypse and his Horsemen as they ruled ancient times. They submerged level after level until they were within the temples deepest floor.

Coming down the last pair of steps the group was immediately greeted with the sight of a long corridor with two rows of stone pillars, with lit torches in each, supporting the ceiling lined up until it led to another massive doorway at the other end.

But one thing was noticeable.

The giant doorway was covered by a thick crystal barrier that shined with the light of the fires.

But if you stood close enough, you would be able to feel a great power coming behind it. A great yet oppressive power that would sooner suffocate you than empower you with strength.

That is exactly what they came for, but not before a fight.

Walking forward the group stood next to each other and kept their eyes forward. They each felt their hearts pounding in their chests in anxiety and anxiousness. This would either be their last fight or their first in a line of new battles.

They stopped before the two long steps before the door way.

Right before them was the only obstacle that had kept them from achieving their destiny for millennia. The only one who could stand equal in power to their master. Who had defeated him all those years ago. Currently the most powerful being on the planet.

In the form of a crystal statue.

The statue was pure _diamond_ and shined in the light of the fire.

Its form was seated with its legs crossed and hands folded in its lap.

Like them, the statue had a cloak with its hood up and a mask instead of a face.

They all glared at the statue with absolute hatred in their eyes and waited.

It wasn't long before the statue started to shine with a white light and slowly, the diamond along the cape of the cloak started to melt away to fabric and continued up the hood and down the shoulders.

The diamond had disappeared and now all that was left was... _him_.

His cloak was red, and so was the armor he wore on his chest, his pants were black and so were his boots. His mask orange and white mask covered his entire face.

The others watched him closely and kept themselves tense as they waited for his first move.

The man slowly looked up and locked his stare at the four of them.

They all slightly flinched and chastised themselves for the action.

Curse the fear he invoked in them!

With careful slowness the man stood to his feet and they were reminded how tall he was. Almost matching Waba's height.

He took a few steps toward them and they prepared themselves for an attack before something happened they didn't expect.

He stopped at the first step and sighed.

" _So, we begin again_."

His voice was deep, soothing and filled with wisdom. But right now it actually held sadness and remorse. Which is exactly what they were hoping to use.

Holding his arms behind his back his gaze fell to all of them before he spoke again.

" _You have all returned a lot earlier than usual. I was not expecting you for another few decades_."

Dropping his arms to his sides he sighed again.

" _Time and time again, we have this same battle. I have fought you all for generations, and yet you persist on fighting a battle where your victory would cause more harm than good_."

He turned his head to the crystal barrier.

" _Though I suppose none of you would see it as such. You have had a taste of power, and your greed leads you here._ "

He looked back to them and spoke with desperation in his voice," _Please, I implore you, if any of your original souls remain, turn back and do not come with wicked intention in your hearts_!"

" _Save your breathe beginner_!"Almawt hissed venomously.

Taken aback by the hateful response, he looked to all of them and saw how much hatred and distaste was in their eyes. And it was then he understood.

" _I see_ ,"He said evenly." _Now I know to whom I address_."

Looking to each of them he speaks strongly," _You four have committed multiple crimes against the natural order of life. You each steal souls and bodies that are not yours_."

With a note of anger in his voice he comments," _It is wrong. You all take after your master in multiple ways_."

The comment flared their anger respectively. But Harb showed his anger more outwardly with clenching and unclenching his fists.

The man noticed this.

" _For centuries we have held this fruitless battle with each other,_ "He says with his arms once more behind his back.

" _It has always ended with you retreating or one of you...dead_ ,"He seemed uncomfortable with the last word.

Harb listened to all he was saying but the very sound of his voice!

It grinded against his ears in a way that made him want to go berserk.

The very sight of him alone was enough to boil his blood, but listening to him try to talk them out of their mission, like he didn't want to fight them. Like they weren't worth dirtying his hands over!

His teeth ground in fury.

" _I beg of you, all of you, do not fight this fight any longer! The road you walk leads you to a horrid fate. Please, let me help you forsake this path so that you will be spared!_ "He pleaded.

It was with these words…

Harb saw **Red**.

Foregoing any idea of a plan he rushed forward. Ignoring any calls from behind he focused solely on the man in front of them.

Every part of him screaming for his blood.

He would crush him!

Destroy him!

Rip his flesh to shreds and feast on his bones!

 **HE WOULD DIE!**

The man seeing one rush forward tensed in preparation to fight.

Harb used his momentum to launch himself in the air and flipped forward and stretched out a leg to smash it down on the man's skull in a devastating axe kick.

Looking up the man leapt back to avoid the kick which had cratered the ground where he once stood.

Looking up Harb snarled and ran at him again and bombarded him with vicious punches and kicks that he was able to block or dodge.

'Such belligerent strikes.'He thought.

Ducking below a punch he immediately leaned back to avoid a kick to the head.

'Such ferocity in his technique,'

He blocked a backfist and pushed away another high kick.

Locking eyes with him for a split second he saw the way is dark eyes sparked with maniacal glee before he sidestepped another punch.

'His eyes shine with bloodlust.'

Harb roared in frustration before charging him and tackling him back.

Digging his feet into the ground the man was able to halt the charge before pushing him back.

'He has been itching for a fight. Even more so than the rest of them,'He noted remembering how he clenched and unclenched his fists earlier. It was with all this that he came to a realization.

Harb snarled at him and charged again.

As he got closer he pulled back a fist and shot it forward...right into his opponents palm.

Snarling at having his hand caught he quickly pulled back his other one as black tipped claws grew from his nails and launched it forward to stab him.

He easily caught his other hand around his wrist and stopped his clawed hands a few inches around his mask.

The two grappled for strength before the man brought his mask closer to Harb.

" _War_ ,"He spoke." _You never change_."

Harb (War) roared in reply.

Yanking forward the man smashed his mask into War's forehead, disorienting him.

With his opponent stunned the man held tighter before twisting his body lifting War from his feet and throwing him to the side.

He sailed through the air and then smashed into the wall, cracking the stone and falling to the ground with pained grunt.

Studying his downed adversary he suddenly felt weaker. His world started to spin and the strength in his body left him. Then his muscles clenched and stretched underneath his skin.

His body hunched and contorted painfully. His arms were bent behind his back and his muscles in his legs locked.

He was completely immobile.

'My strength is leaving me. And being used against me!' He thought in distress. He grunted in pain when he felt his insides coil again.

'Such power over the flesh.'

Turning his head to the best of his ability he looked over and saw Mujaea with her arms stretched out to him, her fingers curled into claws and struggling to close them into a fist.

" _You have gotten stronger Famine,_ "He grunted.

Mujaea (Famine) grit her teeth in exertion and sweat ran down her face at his resistance to be crushed.

" _But,_ "He began," _Not strong enough_!"

With a roar of effort he threw his arms out wide and broke her hold.

Famine stumbled back, as if struck. Falling to a knee she gasped for air at the strength she had to exert.

Breathing heavily he stood to regain his strength.

They would not give him a chance.

Hearing a buzzing sound behind him he hastily ducked and was lucky to just miss being slashed by five long sharp stingers.

Turning he saw Waba, his hand still held up with five black needles sticking out of the tips of his fingers.

Taking in the bandaged giant the man chuckled lightly," _Always the one for subtle attacks, aren't you Pestilence_?"

Waba(Pestilence) stayed silent and sprouted more stingers from his other hand and raced forward.

He was quick, more than he should of been with his size, and he had to sidestep the wild slashes of the giant mutant.

He flipped over the man's head and hastily turned and had to block a back kick.

The force sent him sliding back a few feet before he had to dodge a punch to his mask.

The bandaged mutant reared back his other fist and sent it forward.

In almost slow motion he saw the bandaged hand get closer and closer to him before he pushed it away with his right forearm and countered with a left hook to his cheek.

The giant's head spun to the side before his body followed and he was sent spiralling in the air to crash through a pillar leaving a cloud of dust behind.

Turning his gaze to the last one still standing he walked over to stand a few feet away from the final one still standing.

He stared at the woman before him and immediately knew who it was.

It could be no other.

" _Death_ ,"He addressed.

Almawt(Death) sneered at hearing him say her name.

She inhaled deeply through her nose and arched her back, expanded her abdomen slightly with the air she collected.

He felt the air around her heat up to the point where it distorted with the temperature and he saw the orange glow in her throat a second too late.

Throwing her head forward she roared and unleashed a river of searing flames from her mouth.

He could only watch as the bright flames raged towards him until they completely enveloped his body.

Quickly running out of air she ended her roar, letting the last few embers shoot from her mouth before shutting her lips.

The fires, without its source quickly turned to ash and smoke.

She tried to peer inside of the dark substance to try and locate their, hopefully dead, prey.

But she completely froze as she felt a presence.

Right Behind Her!

With the slightest tilt of her head she saw the red of his cloak.

His back was to her...and was only inches away!

They stood silently for several seconds before he startled her when he spoke.

" _Your power was defeated a long time ago._ "He said.

She felt her anger burn even hotter and she threw her elbow back to strike him. He easily blocked it with a raise of his arm.

Snaking his arm around hers he lifted her over his shoulder and _tossed_ her away from him.

She flipped to regain her baring and landed on her feet skidding back a few more feet.

With a deadly glare on her face she stood and held her arm out to the side.

A giant fireball grew in her hand before she pulled her arm back and chucked the giant ball of fire at him.

He stayed stationary and let the fireball explode in front of him.

With a loud boom the ball blew up leaving a giant cloud of black smoke where he stood.

A spike of smoke shot up as He jumped from the cloud.

He slowed and stopped in the air,,,and was immediately greeted with the sight of War's feral smile.

Rearing in surprise he had no chance as War soared right at him and thrust his clawed hand right into his stomach...then right _through_ him.

Impaled, he was carried by War's momentum and smashed right into the wall above the doorway.

War smiled and growled maliciously in his face as he looked down at his impaled stomach and then back to him

War grinned sadistically as he could feel his hand dug into the stone, effectively trapping his enemy.

He wished he could see the look on his face, scrunched with fear and pain. But that damned mask was in the way!

Staring at the obstruction he could only watch in confusion as the texture of the mask turned clear and shiny and lose all its previous color.

The mask was now diamond.

The diamond spread to the rest of his body, melting away the fabric and armor before he was a statue once again.

Which proceeded to crack and _shatter_.

War stared in astonishment.

" _W-what?...a fake?!_ "He questioned.

From behind him another spike of smoke came from the cloud before the _real_ man leapt out.

He jumped to War grabbing the back of his head and slamming his face into the stones before pulling him back out and tossing him aside before jumping off the wall himself.

Landing in front of War, he peered down at him and asked with a commanding tone," _Let this battle be over now. Leave."_

Snarling War shot out his leg but missed as he jumped back from him.

Crawling onto all fours War sneered at him before releasing a beastly roar that pushed him back with the force of the sound.

After being forced back thirty feet, the man looked, thoroughly unharmed.

" _Never!_ "He growled.

" _WE WILL NEVER SUBMIT TO YOU_!"

He tensed his coiled muscles before springing forward and ran on all fours like an animal.

He pounced with his claws and fangs aimed at his neck, hoping to tear the man's throat out.

He sidestepped the leap and War immediately turned to continue his assault but was met with a solid fist to the face which knocked him back.

He bounced against the ground and slid to a stop driving his claws into the ground.

He looked up and saw his enemy's arm still outstretched from the punch.

'Damn him _!_ 'War thought.

With his eyes focused on War for his next attack he never noticed the massive form sneak up behind him and land a punch right between his shoulder blades.

Stumbling forward he looked behind him and rolled to the side to avoid being smashed by two fists belonging to Pestilence.

The hulking man leapt after him, this time with two bigger stingers sticking out from the palms of his hands.

He dodged a stab to the chest and spun to the left to avoid a slash to his shoulder before he flipping back to avoid a double stab.

He felt a large wave of heat to his left and ducked to avoid the arc of fire that was sent his way by Death.

She scowled before snapping her fingers and sending a bigger arc of fire to him.

Seeing another come his way he jumped high into the air to avoid it as it exploded where he once stood. Then he felt himself be tackled in mid air by Pestilence's hulking form.

Crashing to the ground he Pestilence rolled and picking him up threw him forward.

War came growling and clotheslined him in the middle of his spine.

He was shot forward by the brutes massive strength and right to Death's waiting arms.

Lifting a giant ball of fire above her head, she hurled it at him with a cry of effort.

The fiery orb exploded in a great display of pyrotechnics and lit up the entirety of the chamber before it dimmed again.

The others regrouped around her and caught their breath in the pause of the fight.

" _Damn him!_ "War swore rubbing his sore wrist." _Persistent bastard isn't he_?"

" _I agree_ ,"Famine said as she massaged her fingers." _I've never had to struggle to crush someone before. I had forgotten that who we are fighting._ "

" _Not a mere man_."Death said with her eyes trained forward. The cloud of dust that was thrown up had once again blocked the view of the status of their enemy.

She narrowed her eyes and waited.

" _Hopefully that downed the fool for a bit_."Famine hoped.

" _Don't you be the fool now!_ "Death snapped.

" _You should know better than that, we have barely even scratched him_."

Her eyes still trained on the receding cloud she continued," _All that we have merely done so far._.."

She made out a tall silhouette in the thin cloud.

"... _is shown that we are serious_."

The dust had cleared to show their enemy standing straight and proud.

He looked to have been no more injured than when they arrived except for maybe a few scorch marks around his cloak. Otherwise, he seemed utterly unharmed.

He simply stared at the four, completely motionless.

They all gulped at his unmoving form. This was somehow more intimidating then when he was attacking.

They stayed like that for a minute, before in a simple action that completely spooked them, he lifted his hand...and swept the dust from his shoulder.

They grit their teeth in anger at their own fear.

He had barely done anything this whole time and still their hearts pumped with cold fear at every little action he did!

While their fear grew, so did their hatred for him.

Only their master was the one to instill fear in their hearts.

Anyone else who did so...would die.

They growled and snarled like beasts in a feral rage.

Yet he remained impassive to their actions.

Seeing this they roared their battle cries before charging.

War and Pestilence charged first followed by Death and Famine.

Seeing his enemies charge he got into a loose battle stance.

War leapt at him with a fist reared back. He spun around the attack and ended up behind him to elbow him in the back.

Then he caught Pestilence's wrist, as the man seeked to drive his stingers into him, before kneeing the tall man in the gut and spun him around so that War's surprise kick would hit Pestilence and sent them both flying.

Famine and Death dodged the soaring duo and rushed forward to begin their own attack.

Lighting her hands on fire Death swung her fists in a wide arc to smash into his head but he ducked back from the assault and dodged the barrage she sent his way.

Death lifted her leg for a kick to the side of his head but he gripped her ankle and pulled her forward to offset her balance.

Then he shot his hand forward in a palm strike to her solar plexus. She coughed before she was shot back from the power of the hit.

Lastly Famine came forward with a dagger she had pulled from her boot in a reverse grip and stabbed down on him.

He caught her wrist and held tight forcing her to drop her dagger...right into her waiting hand.

Seeing this he let her go and leaned back to avoid the swipe at his stomach.

With both hands free she pulled her second dagger from her other boot and held both with a reverse grip before she charged.

She was quick, her daggers were blurs as they slashed at him.

Dodging and sidestepping her attacks he backpedaled not aware of what was behind him.

Death held her hand up as if to throw a javelin before a spear made of fire formed and extended to be eight feet long.

Seeing her target was distracted she pulled her arm back and threw it at him with true aim.

The air distorted as the spear shot through the chamber towards the man's back.

Feeling the attack before seeing it, the man grabbed Famine's wrists as she brought them down to stab them both into his neckbone and spun them out of the path of them spears flight.

Seeing the spear explode in a shower of ash across the room he turned to Death in near disbelief.

'That attack could've very well slain us both _!_ 'He thought incredulously.

'They care nothing for each other. Only the 'prize' at the end.'

Turning back to the girl who was struggling to take back her arms he looked at her and shook his head in sadness.

Leaning in closer he spoke in a hushed voice." _How could you? You would take the life of one so young?_ "

She paused in her struggling to stare at him.

" _She is only a child. And yet you care not as you take her soul and use her powers for your own selfish reasons_ ,".

His words pierced something deep within her and she could only stare at him in astonishment.

" _Is this how low you have fallen? How far you are gone? It seems I was right earlier, you truly are your masters servants._ "

She snapped out of her trance and simply glared at him.

" _And what would you know?!_ "She screamed." _You were not with this child all her life! You do not know what she has gone through! What she has suffered for! I was the only one she could depend on! And what of you and your oh so precious Almighty? Where was he when this child cried?_!"

He remained silent to her outburst.

Sneering she replied," _I thought so_."

She raised a kick to his abdomen which caused him to let go of her and stumble back.

War saw his chance and charged. Using his momentum he jumped in the air and raised his fists.

Seeing his opponent flying to him with a powerful hammerstrike he crossed his arms above his head.

War roared as he neared his enemy and threw down his fists to his arms.

 **Clang!**

A loud sound permeated the air as War's hands smacked hard against his arms.

War looked down and sneered to feel the pain in his hands but also to see his opponent had turned his arms into _diamond_.

The man uncrossed his arms which shot War higher into the air before having a fist of diamond driven into his stomach.

Coughing up spittle, War felt his enemy twist his fist into the punch before he was sent spiraling through the air to crash through two pillars and land in a heap on the stairs. He groaned in pain and agony at nearly having his organs crushed.

Turning back to Famine she tried to jab him with one of her daggers once more.

Having enough of this he caught the dagger between two of his crystal fingers before applying enough pressure and snapping it.

Seeing her broken weapon she made to step back but was startled when he suddenly appeared so close to her and nailed her in the stomach with a diamond hard palm strike that sent her flying.

Bouncing and sliding to a stop she held her stomach in pain and could feel the beginnings of a bruise.

He was so strong!

She looked up and started in fear to see him walking to her.

In a panic she held out a hand and clenched it.

He paused and struggled to take another step but he slowly kept at it.

Lifting her other hand she clenched that one too.

This time he stopped all together but was still fighting to move.

" _He's immobilized!_ "She strained to scream," _Attack now!_ "

The others responded accordingly.

War and Pestilence ran forward and released punches to his head.

But with the strength and will in his arms he blocked both attacks with his forearms.

Death came at him with a fiery kick to the stomach but he lifted his leg and blocked with his shin.

He felt them all push down on him and he strained against them with Famine's hold on him still in place.

So gathering his energy he pushed them away and spun with which he was able to crash a punch to War's cheek and connect a kick with Death's side which carried her until she collided with Pestilence and sent them both careening away.

Famine had fallen to all fours in exhaustion and breathed unsteadily to get air within her burning lungs.

Her powers were simple. Taking the strength from her victims body and adding it to her own before using it to crush the person's body from the inside out. The task was normally so easily.

But to use it against someone with oceans of strength...it took a lot of strain to take hold of him for even a second, let alone while he was fighting her grip.

He was so strong it was ridiculous!

The others picked themselves up and together they surrounded him on all sides. He looked to all of them while keeping himself ready and holding up his diamond arms.

Death gave the signal with a bellicose cry," _ **Attack**!_ "

As one they all charged.

When they were all close enough he knocked his fists together causing a great shock wave through the room which slowed their charge and pushed them back.

War snarled and continued forward.

He threw a punch which he easily dodged and ducked a kicked aimed at his head. War roared and thrust his claws forward. Like before he caught his hands around the wrists but this time he threw his knee into war's gut.

Kneeling over he picked up War by his shoulders and tossed him into a charging Pestilence.

He caught his teammate before dispatching him to the side and ran forward with his stingers out and dripping with venom.

He charged the giant and jumped into the air before being slashed and kicked the man in the head.

Stumbling back the giant was assaulted with three more thunderous punches to his stomach before being elbowed in the solar plexus and finished with an uppercut to the bottom of the chin sending him flying away.

He felt the constricting feel of Famine's power before Death charged forward with an axe made of fire in her hand.

He quickly broke her control before leaning away from the burning slash of her weapon.

She brought her weapon up for an overhead strike and he turned to his side to dodge.

He jumped back to avoid more of her swings and was immediately met with a surprise when her fire axe turned a fire sword.

'Her powers are quite versatile.'He noted.

She ran forward, her weapon hissing and crackling with heat, and slashed.

 **CLANG!**

Her sword was immediately blocked by his arm which had turned into a long sharp blade of diamond.

Her amazement was cut short by having to dodge his other blade hand.

Slashing her weapon, he was easily able to parry and block her strikes.

She jumped back and took one hand off her sword before an identical one made in her empty palm and charged again with a war cry.

Their blades crashed against each other in a shower of sparks.

He pushed her away before advancing.

She avoided a slash before blocking his other blade with both of hers and pushed away.

Then she sent her swords in a flurry of fire.

He countered and parried all her attacks and watched as a shower of sparks rained everywhere in loud bursts.

Left blade.

 **CLANG!**

Right blade.

 **CLANG!**

Sending her swords forward in a double stab he was able to knock both away with flicks of his wrists to the sides which left her wide open. He slid forward and shot a straight kick right to her stomach sending her sliding across the floor.

Falling to her knees and wheezing from having the air knocked out of her she looked up at him and grit her teeth in frustration.

'He easily could've finished me right there and then. But he didn't. He held back. He's been holding back ever since we began. We may be trying but he is barely lifting a finger to repel us!'She thought in a rage as she watched his blades revert back to arms.

'And he's not underestimating us. That's the worst part. He knows pulling his punches is the only chance we have for survival in this fight. Damn him! We are not weak!'

She hastily stood to her feet.

" _Do you take us for fools!_ "She raged." _You haven't been fighting seriously entire time! You think that if you knock us down enough times that we will give up and retreat. But we will not! We will never give up! Our Lord is depending on us, and by his glory we will win! Especially if you hold back! EITHER KILL US OR WE KILL YOU! We will not give up,DO YOU HEAR ME,WE WILL NOT GIVE UP!_ "

The man simply stood and stared. He seemed to be considering her words while the others circled him and waited for his answer with baited breath.

He tilted his his to the side as he pondered her looked to the other three and took in their stature.

War to the right.

Famine to the Left.

Pestilence to the back.

And Death in the front.

They were all battered and bruised, but they stood with resolve and determination shone in their eyes. They would not stop anytime soon. Even if it meant their death.

His shoulders slouched in slight defeat before he looks to Death just as her face broke into a wicked smile.

" _Very well_ ,"He sighed,"I _f it is my true strength you seek to have_ …"

His voice strengthened as he widened his stance, right foot out in front, the left in the back and held his crystal arms up and slowly balled his fists,"... _ **then come!"**_

Their hearts beat with anticipation and excitement at the prospect of going all out in their battle.

War bared his teeth and lengthened his claws.

Pestilence grew out his stingers as a loud buzzing hung in the air.

Famine clenched her dagger tightly and kept held her other hand ready.

Death lit both her arms on fire and tensed her muscles.

All was silent.

No one dared move.

Their breaths and crackling of the fire was all that could be heard.

They were all waiting for an unannounced signal.

From one of the broken pillars a loose pebble dangled on the edged, wobbling back and forth before it tipped over the edge and fell to the ground.

The rock fell slowly and all of them tensed in preparation.

It descended.

 _TWO Feet._

 _ONE Foot._

 _FIVE INCHES._

 _THREE INCHES._

 _ONE INCH._

It hit.

So it began.

Their eyes widening they all leapt forward their target.

The man stayed quiet and calm, his enemies coming from all sides he stood tall with no fear in his heart. His enemies moved as if time had slowed, their leaps bringing them closer to him by the second.

He tilted his head down.

Had War not been preoccupied in his battle rage, his sensitive ears would of picked up on the soft mumbling of the man.

A soft prayer sent to the wind, to be carried and sent to ears high above.

With them barely a foot away he ended his prayer with a soft,'Ammin'

Amen.

His head whipped up.

With only inches of them away he quickly formulated a plan.

And he was off.

Spinning around on the balls of his feet he sent a brutal hook to Pestilence's head before turning to his left to kick Famine right in the stomach. Then he turned to the right to shoot an elbow into War's chest before finally facing forward and sending two palm strikes to Death's abdomen.

Time resumed once more and all four were sent flying back with loud shockwaves in the wake.

They all crashed into the walls of the room with pained grunts and screams.

War held his chest lightly and grunted as a large purple bruise started to form under his shirt.

Pestilence held a hand to his head and shook his head to clear the spots in his vision and buzzed in discomfort.

Famine kneeled over and fought to keep her lunch from racing out her mouth from the hard blow to her stomach.

Death winced and held her abdominal area as it felt she was smashed with a giant stone hammer.

She looked up and saw the man still in the position from the double palm strike he gave her.

Then he straightened and returned to his original stance at the restart of the fight.

" _ **Come!**_ "He demanded.

War growled at the challenge. Ignoring the pain he stood to his feet and ran at him.

He bared his claws and slashed at him but he easily ducked and then caught the follow up punch before tightening his hold.

War cried out as his hand was being crushed in the diamond hand. He heard his finger and knuckles snap and pop from the pressure being applied.

He fell to his knees and tried to wrench his hand free by futily yanking with his other one away.

He glanced at the up at the orange and white mask before a shining fist filled his vision and he felt the impact of a freight train smash into his face.

He was then reintroduced to the wind before he crashed into the wall and indenting it to his shape before he blinked a few times and everything went black.

The man retracted his fist and returned to his stance.

" ** _Come!_ "**He demanded again.

Famine stumbled to her feet and held her mouth to stop her stomach from releasing its contents. She glared hatefully at the man before she ran over with a fierce battle cry.

She jumped and threw out a quick series of kicks which he blocked with his palms and then ducked when she tried to slice his neck.

She threw out a right cross that he easily pushed away and ducked another slice, but he dropped low and swept her feet out from under her causing her to fall to her back and clenched her eyes in pain.

Wheezing after the loss of breath she opened her eyes and was greeted to a stomp to the forehead.

Hearing her head smack into the ground he winced.

He held back his power in the stomp, not wanting to cause any irreversible damage.

She was still conscious but just very _very_ dizzy.

Foregoing his downed opponent, he returned to his original stance and called out again,'" ** _Come_!** "

Pestilence rose from his downed position and the man immediately turned to his enemy.

Pestilence's body started to twitch before swarms of insects flew from his under his bandages. The insects buzzed angrily before flying over to him and flying around him in a column of wasps.

He threw up his arms and protected himself from the literal _swarm_ of death by converting all of his skin into diamond.

Pestilence watched on as his swarm overwhelmed and ravaged his enemy with their stingers and completely covered him from view.

Suddenly a white glow emanated from within the swarm before the bugs were shot back from a large blast of power revealing the man with his arms held to the sides after just throwing them off.

His masked face fell to his bandaged one and he held up his hand.

The diamond on his arm darkened before it took on a green tint.

The diamond had changed to _Emerald_.

Slamming his emerald hand onto the ground, Pestilence watched as the ground in front of him shook before a pillar of emerald shot from the stone and slammed into him before smashing him into the wall.

He struggled weakly against the pillar but the gem pushed against him harder before he was nearly crushed, then four latches shot from the edges and dug into the stone behind him and trapped the man against the wall.

Then he turned his head to look at Death who had just gotten to her feet.

He seemed to release his own growl before he stomped his feet and slid back into his stance. And once more he bellowed out.

" _ **COME!**_ "

The scream shook her to her bones and she suppressed a shudder in fear at the absolutely _furious_ call he gave to her.

To see him so angered after knowing him to be always passive or emotionless was a shock to her system.

Remembering her own words she locked away her fear and steeled her face into a stony expression.

Holding out her hand she shot out a barrage of fire bolts from her fingers.

Turning his other hand into emerald he slammed both of his palms to the ground before a wall of emerald arched over his head.

The bolts hit the shield and exploded in a cloud of smoke.

When the cloud cleared the wall was shattered and the green gem was sprinkled along the ground, but her enemy was nowhere in sight.

She started and looked around in fear.

She glanced behind her and saw that he was behind her with his leg cocked back, and she noticed his arms were now a deep crimson, they had turned to _ruby_.

He nailed his shin in the middle of her spine which folded her backwards before she was sent sailing through the air.

Through her flight, she made out a red blur that passed her before she started to slow and she saw the man was now in front of her.

He raised his hand and chopped down hitting her between her shoulders which made her bounce on the ground before he pulled back his leg and sent the tip of his boot into her face which sent her flying back to the way she came.

She slammed into a pillar with a pained scream and fell to the ground.

She stayed motionless for the pain was so widespread that to move any part of her would result in unbearable agony in the rest of her.

So with incredibly slow effort, she slid her arms under her and pushed herself up.

She heard steps march up to her and she was wrenched up by the collar of her brown cloak and slammed back into the pillar with a pained scream.

She looked up to see their adversary looking at her and she could tell even through the mask that he was glaring at her.

She had never been so afraid in this life then she was now.

She watched him pull back his now diamond arm and looked on in horror as his fingers curled into a tight fist.

He wouldn't...he wouldn't do it!

...right?

But she held her breath anyway as she watched his arm intently.

Then in a blur, the arm shot forward.

Clenching her eyes shut she prepared for it to end.

 **Smash!**

She tentatively opened her eyes and blinked in confusion. Turning her head she her eyes widened and she gaped in utter fear.

His hand was dug into the stone all the way up to his elbow...and was only _inches_ away from her head.

" _I believe_ ,"She turned to him." _That I have indulged your...desire for a more challenging fight quite enough for now, unless you wish to continue_."

She stayed silent out of fear.

" _I thought as much,_ "He said.

" _This fight is over. You cannot beat me, and I will not let you_."

She sneered at him and tried to struggle but he would have none of it as he tightened his hold on her cloak and made her look up to him.

" _Listen!_ "He commanded." _You fight a battle that was lost before it even began. Your crusade to free your false God is only going to end in disaster. You will find yourself burning in a sea of fire and will never be able to escape! I beg of you to understand. Leave, do not come back, and repent for your ways. I do not wish to see you suffer_."

She stared at him in astonishment.

After all this time, he still wishes to end this without a fight.

He does not wish for their deaths.

She lowered her head and reflected all of this.

" _You say that I will burn for all my crimes one day_?"She said with her voice as soft as a whisper.

He felt the temperature around her suddenly spike.

She looked up at him with a horribly maniacal look in her eyes and steam pouring from her demented smile.

" _Then it's a good thing I am immune to fire_."

Her entire body erupted in an explosion of red flames.

He let go and stepped back from her.

He slightly turned his head from the heat and held up his hand to block the waves of extreme heat.

The fire then died away from her and she was left there, her cloak having been burned away leaving her in her armored chest plate and pants.

" _But to bad for you_ ,"She teased coyly." _I can melt you to the bone and then some!_ "

She held up her arm and it was immediately covered in a claw of fire.

She smiled with her inner insanity.

" _And I think it's time we begin!_ "

He tensed when he saw her begin to step forward but was suddenly halted…

" **Raaaah!** "

The pained scream grabbed both of their attention.

War, who had previously been unconscious had recently woken up, but not before remembering what had happened.

And he was **MAD!**

This entire time he had been made a fool of. His pride had been severely damaged. He was thrown around and thrashed by this, this, thing!

He didn't even know what he was. He was no man, and he wasn't mutant either. He couldn't be. He was too strong. Too powerful. He had easily beaten him in terms of strength. But he could not have that. Not at all.

He is Harb, War.

He brings destruction and death, he feeds on the hatred of men and uses it to power him.

He was the most physically strong of the horsemen and had always been. The others were hesitant to fight him, for their own sake.

But this man, he was hesitant to fight for his opponents sake.

Such arrogance!

He could not stand it!

The thought of it, it made his rage boil within him and build until eventually it shot over.

With a pained scream he fell from the imprint in the wall and crumbled to his hands and knees.

He clawed the ground in pain as he felt the bones in his body snap and extend, the loud pops filling the air with its sickening noise.

His muscles stretched and contorted to refit the shifting of his bones.

He and Death stopped what they were doing to watch the horrific transformation take place.

War's body seemed to stretch and he became skinnier and more malnourished. His skin darkened and was washed with ink blackness.

His face started to change as well.

His jaws stretched before it gave the appearance of a lizard's muzzles.

The most sickening change however was at the base of his spine his skin popped open and a long tail of bone slinked out and slinked around his body. Then a layer of muscle and skin fell over it and the whip like tail was complete.

What stood before them was a disgusting demon of pure rage and aggression.

Now standing over seven feet it's skin stretched over a raptor like skeleton and darker than shadow with sunken cheeks and a gaping maw of pointed fangs.

Its eyes were a stark white, contrasting to the previously all black.

It's eyes roamed over the cracked and destroyed room before they fell on the star struck opponents.

It's eyes narrowed at Death and hissed in anger to the most powerful horsemen.

It remembered the words she spat at him before. He would rip her throat out with his claws to teach her a lesson. He would show her fear.

Death gulped as the beast's eyes turned to her and narrowed in predatory hatred.

But she was saved when the man walked in front of her and did his best to shield her from its eyes.

'He willingly stands between me and this monster to protect me?!' She thought incredulously.

She could only laugh.

'The fool.'

The man in the red cloak stood in front of his vision and he was reminded of all the things he had done to him. How he humiliated him, made him feel weak.

The creature felt a heat build up in it's chest, its clawed hands clenched into tight fists and it breaths became shallow and fast paced. This was the familiar feeling of rage. And this man would know its wrath!

He would pay. With his **blood**!

The monster roared like thunder and Death covered her ears, while the man remained unaffected.

Seeing this enraged it further and it thundered over to him.

The man quickly disappeared in a red blur from the charging beast, but the monster easily changed its direction to follow him.

Reappearing in the middle of the chamber he was taken back to see the creature already so close.

He disappeared again and reappeared in front of the blocked doorway.

He looked up and saw the creature falling down on to him with a clawed hand ready to slash.

Once more he was gone and the beast slashed five trenches in the ground where he once stood.

Turning its head the beasts hissed menacingly before it too disappeared in a blur.

Death watched to the best of her ability as the two blurs raced around the room.

The smaller red blur being chased by the larger black one.

She saw how the red one tried to lose the other by running in zig zags and circles but was pursued ruthlessly with no escape allowed.

Then the larger one suddenly shot past the smaller and swung around to ram into the smaller one.

Their impact caused a loud crashing sound before they were off again.

Several more crashes sounded in the room as the larger blur outflanked the smaller and crashed into it again.

Suddenly in a larger crash then the the others they reappeared, their fists smashed against each other.

They both pulled back and shot their other fists together for both to intercept one another again.

They engaged in a vicious melee against each other, matching blow for blow.

Right fist, Left fist, Right kick, Left kick.

Suddenly the man leapt back while converting his diamond arms into emerald and slammed his palms together.

As the beast leapt after him it was suddenly smashed on both sides by two emerald pillars from the walls.

The creature snarled at being trapped before it broke its prison and leapt with rekindled anger after him.

Seeing the monster escape so easily he thought of a new plan.

Clasping his emerald hands together the man sent a trail of emerald spikes across the ground to intercept the feral mutant.

The beast, seeing the spike immediately back tracked from its charge and stumbled away.

But the spikes kept following it, it leaped backwards but the spikes remained fast approaching, only a few feet away from him with every leap.

It suddenly leaped high and onto a stone pillar and latched on with its claws.

It looked forward to see the man leap towards him with a diamond fist cocked back to strike.

Roaring in challenge the mutant kicked off the pillar and met the man in mid air and tackled him back.

Landing hard on the ground the man grunted in pain. He looked up to see the War's jaws open to bite off his head.

Quickly grabbing the jaws he held the monsters head back as it thrashed and struggled in his grip.

It stopped to feel a pressure on its tail. Looking back it saw a diamond statue of its prey holding its tail by the tip before pulling sharply and lifting it from the downed man, over its head, and smash him into the ground.

Growling in annoyance the beast wrenched its tail away and whipped it around the duplicates neck.

Grasping at the appendage the statue struggle uselessly before the tail tightened and snapped the head off of its body.

War smiled and cackled evilly as it watched the head roll and the body crumple into crystal shards.

It was taken out of its dark humor when the man charged into the it and pushed it back a few feet.

The feral mutant merely laughed a choked and dry laugh before slamming its hands down on his back.

Crumbling to the ground he tried to stand before he was grabbed by the back of his cloak and thrown away. He grunted as he slammed into the wall.

War rushed forward and planted a hard fist into his stomach. Causing him to yelp in pain.

He repeated the action again. And again, and again, and again.

All to hear the sound of him screaming in pain.

He would feel weak now!

Roaring and raring back another punch he shot it forward...right into his opponent's waiting palm.

This gave the monstrosity pause.

Lifting his head, he spoke with a slightly strained and yet partly humorous voice.

" _You know, if you strike the same place repeatedly, your opponent will know exactly where to block_ ,"

He growled at the slight mocking tone in his voice.

With a roar he opened his hand to lengthen his claws and shot them forward.

Like before, he caught the hand by the wrist.

" _I think that is enough,_ "He stated.

Once again he roared in reply.

He lifted his leg and kicked it right into the mutants chest.

Stumbling back the beast tried to charge again but was immediately hit with a diamond fist to the cheek.

It turned back to receive a similar hit to the opposite cheek.

He kept backing the monster up with a barrage of fast paced and powerful punches.

Pulling back his right arm, he channeled his energy into his arm before launching it forward to the beast jaw which sent it flying up and into the ceiling. An emerald pillar shot up from under it and smashed it further into ceiling.

Unclasping his hands he stared at the immobilized monster before returning his gaze to the silent observer to the brutal battle.

Death stood and could only gape at the victor of the fight.

She had thought that with War's more powerful and animalistic form, it would of brought him down or at least winded him.

But here he stood again, tall and proud. Unhurt, if a little ruffled.

But not too terribly.

She gulped as he walked towards her.

This man, no, this thing! It simply was not of this world!

They had never seen this level of strength from him before. And what was worse, they could tell that he was still holding back!

Where does his strength end?!

He stopped in front her asked her simply," _Do you wish to continue?_ "

She grit her teeth at the spite she felt.

Now he was just mocking her!

" _You have all fought valiantly, but it was in vain, you know that I will not allow you to release En Sabah Nur_ ,"He said softly.

She sneered at him.

" _And I will not stop til you are dead at my feet_!"

" _Then you will simply fall to exhaustion_."He retorted.

She felt her anger flare along with her body temperature, her wrath fueling her powers.

" _If I am to fall, then it will be with honor. Honor in battle. Slain at the hands of a better warrior. So if you are so strong, then kill me_!"She screamed.

He remained silent.

" _What's wrong?_ "She mocked with a cruel smile." _Too afraid to do finish a fight! Or are you too weak?_ "

He turned his head to the side and looked away at her cruel taunts.

" _You cannot handle the spilling of more 'innocent' blood on your hands. You know that deep within, the souls of the original inhabitants still live. And if you kill us, you kill them as well. Then you have more people cursing your name_!"

She cackled wickedly," _Oh how pathetic you are! Do you not understand that they willingly gave themselves over to us? They willingly gave themselves to our cause, they are on our side, the side of our Lord_!"

He turned back to her.

" _You mean you preyed on their weakest moments and whispered beautiful lies into their minds. Giving them a hope that was as false as your 'Lord'_ "He spat the last word as if it were poison.

" _You twisted their beliefs and took away their will. You have done more than ruined lives, you have destroyed the natural order of life and death. You damn yourself to the darkest pits to suffer for eternity and you do not even care who you drag with you_!"

Death started to examine her nails out of boredom at his proclamation.

" _And_?"She says rhetorically." _What importance should this have to me? I am merely doing as I am commanded by my master. I have no guilt. I have no regret. No remorse. It matters not in the end anyways_."

" _You are shameless!_ "He proclaims.

" _The difference between you and me_ ,"She smiles," _You hold yourself back by caring for everything!_ "She says while flailing her arms out.

Pacing back and forth she continues," _Forming ties to everything simply holds you down, holds you back, you are anchored to that thing you cherish so greatly not even realizing that you have shackled yourself to a giant lead ball_."

She turns back to him and her smile stretched across her face.

" _Which is why we are superior to you. We hold no attachments. No bonds, no chains. We are FREE_!" She shouts in glee.

" _But you are alone_."He says plainly.

Her smile faltered before it comes back.

" _With the power we will hold, it matters not_."

He prepared to speak again but was suddenly seized from behind.

Two large pairs of bandaged arms were wrapped around him with the grip of snakes.

He craned his neck to see that Pestilence had freed himself and was now holding onto him with his enhanced strength.

He grunted at the amount of strength he was being held with.

" _Now hold him still_ ,"She called.

Holding out her hand a lance formed before the ends both arched towards her and she was now holding a bow of fire in her hand.

She smiled grotesquely and pointed the bow right at him.

Unseen by those present War had been struggling furiously to free him from the pillar trapping him to the ceiling and had finally succeeded when he used his super strength to push the pillar back into the ground enough to slip out of the pinch he was in.

Falling to the ground he grunted in pain at the rough landing before he growled and looked around for his prey.

His eyes fell on the back of his red cloak before the large bandaged one came up from behind and snatched him up in a crushing bear hug.

His rage spiked at this.

He was his kill!

No one else's!

Anybody who tried to interfere with his hunt would know the sting of his claws!

With a low growl he ran forward.

Death, completely unaware of the charging beast behind Pestilence's large form, pulled back on the bow's string before an a flaming arrow was formed.

She let the arrow grow in size as she held it long enough for it to become bigger than the bow itself.

Then she locked her eyes on her enemy and smiled.

" _Goodbye_."She says happily.

She lets go.

The arrow rockets from the bow and shoots its way to the restrained man.

As it traveled, it consumed more oxygen and grew larger and burned hotter until it looked more like a shooting star than an arrow.

Seeing the approaching fiery death, he threw his head back and slammed it into the mutants face.

Surprised by the tactic, Pestilence loosened his grip enough for the man to turn around and grab the giant by his bandaged face and leapt away.

War was only a few feet away, seeing his own prey just a few feet away caused his own heart to beat in overdrive.

So close, his kill was so close! Just a few more steps, he would just impale his hand through the bandaged one and then he would have him dead!

This was the thrill of the hunt, this is what he lived for!

But the bandaged one suddenly stumbled back before he and his prey disappeared from view.

With them gone War could see the arrow of fire coming his way.

His eyes widening, he realized his forward momentum could not be stopped from his charge.

He felt the heat nearly melt him wear he stood and his face shined with the light of the fire.

With a roar, the fires consumed his body.

" **Rrraaaah**!"

The loud bellow gave them pause.

They all looked in horror to see War's form consumed by the flames.

The fire ravaged his body as it ate away at his flesh and burned away his skin.

War writhed and screamed in agony as he scratched and hooked clumps of his flesh of his body in an attempt to put out the all encompassing fire.

Soon, all they could see was his skeleton still trying futilely to put out the flames, not realizing it had lost its flesh already before it collapsed and the screams and roars ceased and all was quiet.

The man simply stared in astonishment before taking a few steps forward.

Suddenly the blackened skeleton shot out of the fire.

He stumbled back in surprise as the bony hand wrapped around his neck and he was made to stare into the eyeless husk of a body.

The skeleton opened its fanged jaw to release a soft growl and feebly lifted its other clawed hand to still try to kill him.

The skeleton's movements slowed before it stopped moving altogether.

With the last of its strength it softly growled in a coarse and harsh voice," _D-damn you...Genesis_."

His grip around Genesis's neck fell away and the skeleton collapsed to the ground.

They all stood in silence.

Genesis looked down to the man's remains before he sunk to his knees.

" _No,_ "he whispered." _Not again_."

Seeing his distress as an opening Pestilence ran toward him with a stinger growing from his palm.

Genesis turned his head and saw the coming giant.

Snarling behind his mask he hastily stood and turned his left fist to diamond before smashing it into the bandaged man's stomach.

Stopped dead in his tracks, Pestilence was bent over and twitched slightly in pain.

Pulling back his hand, Genesis pulled back his other arm before striking his opponent in the head which sent him stumbling back before he fell to the ground.

" _Is this not enough for you!_ " He raged." _Is not the death of one of your own not enough to see that your fight is unnecessary?!_ "

He gripped his fists tighter in anger," _IS YOUR DEMISE WHAT YOU SEEK?!"_

His shout sent a shudder to all present.

Death smiled however at seeing his anger, if this is what it will take for him to get sloppy and eventually make a fatal mistake, then so be it.

She walked forward with a sway of her hips and a seductive smile.

" _You see_?"She called out." _Your biggest weakness is yourself. You hold your hand out for people who would sooner gut you then take your hand_ ,".

With a shake of her head she looked him over," _And look at yourself, you have been so undone by War's demise, even more so than any of us, and you still do not wish vengeance on us_?"

She stopped next to Pestilence's still form.

" _You truly are a fool_ ,"She laughs." _But if what it takes to properly down you is to experience grief_ ,".

She formed a knife in her hand.

" _Then drown in sorrow,_ "She smiled.

She stabbed down...right into Pestilence.

" _NOOO!_ "He screamed.

Pestilence seized at having a dagger of fire driven into his chest. He twitched and spasmed as the sizzling of his flesh could be heard underneath his bandages.

He released a loud buzzing as thousands upon thousands insects flooded from his body.

Death smiled cruelly as she saw Genesis standing frozen in disbelief at her actions.

The last of the insects flew from Pestilence as his twitching stopped and he fell limp to the ground.

Death rose from her kneeled position and laughed at how disheartened he seemed at the new corpse before him.

" _Bit of advice,_ "She says," _Let go of your beliefs, they will do nothing but get you killed_."

He remained unresponsive.

Seeing her chance she formed a flaming spike at the end of her fist before charging forward and sending it to his heart.

She was surprised when her caught her by the wrist.

She was even more surprised when he gave it a sharp twist.

" _AAAH_!"She screamed in pain.

Falling to a knee she looked up at him when he spoke.

" _Let go of my beliefs you say_?"

She started at how his tone had darkened.

" _I think...that I will oblige you_ "He growled.

She gulped.

He shot forward a diamond fist into her forehead before kneeing her in the same spot.

Picking her up he slammed his knee into her stomach before tossing her away.

She bounced across the ground before sliding to a stop.

Coughing and hacking up blood and spittle she moaned in agony.

She was lifted by her feet again and faced with an orange and white mask that she knew hid an enraged glare.

She shot a flaming fist into the side of his head which made him let her go.

She stumbled back a few steps when she saw him still advancing.

Panicking she threw a few blasts of fire from her hands that brushed off of him she realized in fear.

He reached forward and grabbed her hand before pulling her to him and sending her away with a devastating side kick.

Slamming into a pillar she slid down the pole before slumping at the bottom.

She blinked her eyes to rid her of the black spots in her vision.

She still saw him advancing on her still form.

" _P-please_ ,"She whimpered," _Mercy,_ "

He paused.

" _Mercy,_ "He repeats breathlessly." _I have shown abundant supplies of mercy to you. I have given you multiple chances to retreat. Have I not? I have given you multiple chances to end this fight. Have I not? I have expressed my desire not to fight you. HAVE I NOT?!_ "

His scream made her shrink in fear.

" _Yet you insisted, you persisted to fight, you demanded my strength, and now that I show it, you wish for me to stop_!"

He tilts his head as if confused.

" _Was it not you who said I should abandon my belief in life, to forsake mercy and be relentless and bloodthirsty_?"

Death's eyes widened as her own words had come back and were being used against her.

" _I said I would oblige you_ ,"He said lowly." _And I shall._ "

He started to stalk forward.

Death shivered in fear at his imposing figure walked over to her.

He wouldn't possibly kill her.

It was not in his nature. Though she had pushed him, it seemed to his breaking point. And when anyone is pushed that far, anything can happen.

He was almost upon her before he suddenly stopped.

She watched curiously, she saw him tense and struggle with his body to move. Then she realized, Famine!

Looking over, she saw the physically youngest of them had risen to her feet with a big purple splotch on her forehead.

Her hands were outstretched and trying to close her hands into fists.

She grit her teeth in determination and pain as she held onto Genesis.

She had seen it all, War's transformation, his fight with Genesis, his death, and Pestilence slain at the hands of Death herself. She also witnessed as she pushed him over his limit and how he had destroyed her in a fight that left her defeated at his feet.

She honestly should've let him continue with what he was doing. Death deserved what was coming to her. Her arrogance was always her downfall. She never thought how the effect of pushing him would have negative consequences. So assured doing so would mean victory, and it almost ended in her demise.

But she still felt an obligation, to protect a fellow general, to save her superior and hopefully get in the good graces of her Lord for doing so.

So she stood up as best she could and held. And held strong. She was determined to not let go til the fool was a crushed puddle on the floor.

Genesis felt the familiar hold of Famine's powers.

Her grip was stronger this time, too strong. A lot stronger than it was before. This gave him pause. It should not be this powerful. This grip felt matured, more constricting, he felt more of his strength leave him this time around. Suddenly he realised what was happening, she was tapping more into her power.

Powering through the grip he pushed himself around to face her with unbearable slowness. He looked to her and started to take steps.

Famine grinded her teeth at the pain in her head that his defiance gave her.

But she was not giving up!

She rekindled her efforts and closed her fingers just a bit more.

Genesis grunted as he felt a great pressure start to close in him all around him, trying to smash him. Yet still he persisted as fast as he was able too.

She cried out as she started to feel a burning inside her skull.

The pain was too much!

With tears of pain leaking down her face she glared at the man causing her the agony. He needed to just die!

Genesis could see her pain and knew he was the cause of her distress but he could not slow down, he had to stop her!

Famine could feel something dripping down her face and drip to the floor.

Her nose had started to bleed.

And from the oozing sensation in her ears, she was probably starting to bleed their too. She had to end this, Now!

So with all the strength she had, she slowly closed her fingers even more, it felt like trying to squeeze a ball of iron!

Genesis ignored his agony and shuffled as fast as he could to her, he wasn't gonna make it!

Her tears had turned red and the agony in her head had turned into white hot pain that made it hard to stand but she had to keep going!

She could not fail her lord!

She could not fail Sayla!

" _Graaaaaaaaah_!"She screamed in effort.

Genesis stopped his movement when he felt he could not move anymore, the pressure had become immense and he was unable to go another inch.

" _Please,_ "He begged," _Stop!_ "

She would of smiled at hearing him beg for mercy, but she had to concentrate, she couldn't stop yet!

So with her resolve burning she screamed and closed her hand into a fist.

 **Crack**

A sickening noise rang through the air.

Famine stayed still, her face blank and unexpressive. She stood for all of five seconds before her eyes rolled back and she fell forward.

She was caught in the arms of Genesis. He knelt down and turned her over to stare at her face. Her eyes were dull and lifeless, and her could see her chest was not moving. Placing a finger on her neck he waited, and waited. Nothing, her pulse was gone.

As was she.

He looked down sadly at the dead girl before him.

" _She was too young_ ,"He lamented." _She was not yet ready for the full strength of her powers. Her body could not cope with the strain_."

He softly closed her eyelids.

" _Why do you persist on doing this? Why do you drag more to a grave they do not deserve_?"

He looked over to see Death struggling to her feet against the pillar and felt a fierce onslaught of guilt set itself in his stomach.

He had let her words and actions cloud his judgment. He had allowed her to get into his head and plant anger into his heart.

If he had continued on...he's not sure how things would've ended.

And that scares him.

Placing the young girl down, he got up to stride towards the final general.

Stopping in front of her dazed form he spoke softly and clearly," _Listen to me, this battle is done, I have no intention of fighting anymore. Enough blood has been spilled. I would have no more on my hands. Please, just turn around and go_."

With that he sighed and his shoulders slouched to show his exhaustion.

Turning he started to trudge back to his spot in front of the door.

Leaving behind a beaten and frustrated general.

'Coward,'She thought.

" _Why don't you finish the fight?_ "She called weakly." _Finish what was started._ "

" _You are no longer a threat, you are defeated and can hardly stand. To continue would be foolish_."He answered without turning.

" _You already have so much blood on your hands_!"She yelled," _What's one more_?"

Without breaking stride he said," _One more, makes all the difference._ "

She stared after him as he walked away from her.

Why?

Why does he exist?

Why does he live? Why doesn't he just die? Why does he have to be in the way? Why can't they leave them to carry out their mission?

It was not fair! He was so powerful!

How are they supposed to beat him?!

She clenched her eyes as she felt tears of frustration start to leak.

She opened her eyes to see the red of his cloak.

Her rage started to spark again, but was held back at the sheer and utter helplessness she felt.

She knew she couldn't leave, her master was depending on her.

But she couldn't do anything. It wasn't fair!

She grit her teeth and cried some more as she looked at him.

It was all his fault!

His Fault!

He is the reason her master was sealed. And the reason they couldn't free him!

Because of him they would face judgement!

The thought stopped her.

They had failed again. Her master would not be understanding. He would let them all go, he would hand them over to…

Something in her, at that moment, _snapped_.

Genesis stopped at the level of intense heat that had suddenly appeared.

Turning he saw Death, her hunched over form was glowing with the heat she was giving off, the veins under her skin shone white and waves of heat flooded from her body.

She lifted her head and he was taken back with her eyes. They were a glowing orange.

" _ **You**_ ,"She growled.

Straightening she looked at him before she sneered and roared out," _ **YOUUUUUU**_!"

He threw his arms up at the heat she produced.

At her scream her body burst into flames.

They roared and grew larger as they took in as most oxygen as they could until she was no more a giant raging ball of fire.

" _ **IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!**_ "She bellowed." _ **YOU ARE THE REASON FOR OUR SUFFERING**_!"

A tendril of fire sprout from the ball of fire and lashed out at him, he backpedaled out of it's way.

" _ **IT IS BECAUSE OF YOU THAT WE HAVE LOST EVERYTHING**_!"She raged on.

Another tendril tried to smash him but he leapt away again.  
" _ **OUR LIVES,OUR DREAMS,OUR FUTURES! YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING BUT DO US HARM! YOU ARE NO HERO, YOU ARE NO SAVIOR, YOU ARE NO SOLUTION! YOU ARE A MURDERER!**_ "

With her face twisted in rage she cast her arms out and two giant arms of fire sprouted from the top of the conflagration.

Seeing this, he turned his arms to emerald and he clasped his hands together. An orb of emerald rose from the ground and encased him, shielding him from the fire.

The arms reared back and smashed down onto the barrier.

Genesis grunted at the force used to attack him and clasped his hands tighter to hold the barrier.

Seeing him hide himself she sneered.

" _ **YOU DO NOT GET TO HIDE! YOU MUST FACE JUDGEMENT FOR ALL YOU'VE DONE!**_ "

The arms continued to batter away at the barrier to try to get to Genesis. He held strong. He felt his shield shake and vibrate but he held the barrier up.

Screaming in fury she continued her attack.

" _ **I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!**_ "She cried at feeling weak.

Her tears were visible on her face.

He heard her cries and lost his focus on the barrier, the crystal cracked at the last hit.

Looking up he saw the fracture to the orb.

The arms came down once more, but he manipulated the crystal so spikes formed on the clear surface outside.

The spikes impaled the arms and they dissolved into embers.

The job done, Genesis broke the barrier and stood up.

Death glared at his form and gave an inhuman cry.

" _ **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**_!"

He stayed straight and unafraid. He started to march over to her.

Seeing him come closer, her rage doubled and a tendril sprouted from the side and made to strike him.

Turning his arm back to diamond he simply batted it away.

She growled and tried again.

He batted away that one as well.

In another scream she made another arm sprout from the top and had it smush him.

She smiled at the thought of crushing him and burning away his remains.

But the smile left a second later when the arm was dissolved and showed Genesis reverting his blade arm back into a hand.

And he continued forward.

" _ **WHY?!**_ "She screeched." _ **WHY WON'T YOU STAY DOWN?!**_ "

Undaunted by her scream his steps continued.

Her fire burned hotter and the air in the room became hard to breathe. But still he continued. His cloak flapped in the heat and it's edges were being blackened and burned away, yet he persisted.

He only stopped until he was right in front of her.

Looking into her burning eyes, filled with hatred and anger, he still saw the streak of tears down her face and could see more ready to release.

Then in his soft voice he said to her," _I'm sorry._ "

Her eyes widened.

The fire dispersed around her and the temperature returned to normal.

She stared at him in the utmost disbelief.

He noticed that her hair was slightly singed and her skin was most notably a few shades darker than before.

She continued to stare at him and did so for a while before she reacted.

She lightly chuckled," _Of course you are_."

Then she fell onto her back.

Smiling humorously she said," _It appears I have overtaxed myself as well._ "

Turning to him she released an empty chuckle," _Was it not you who said I would fall from exhaustion_?"

He frowned behind his mask at the turn of phrase.

" _I can feel myself overheating,"_ She whispered." _It's not very pleasant. Will you do me a favor and end me now_?"

He didn't speak.

She laughed, this time with genuine amusement.

" _Ask a silly question_ ,"She mumbled.

" _I'm sorry_." He spoke.

She remained quiet at his apology.

" _I wish this didn't have to end like this. You and the others. You were just as manipulated as the souls you trapped. Promised power and aversion from divine punishment._ "

This time she spoke," _But we still did everything we did. And knew very well what we were doing. We are guilty before the eyes of your Almighty_."

He knew her words to be true so he could not offer any words.

So once more he did the only thing he could do.

" _I'm sorry._ "

She scoffed this time.

" _Please spare me your apologies and save your breathe. Your words mean nothing to me_."

He simply nodded at this.

" _You know, I really hate you,_ "She said weakly.

" _Yes, I think you made that abundantly clear earlier_."He said recalling her literally screaming it and trying to kill him with her powers.

" _Then let me make this abundantly clear_ ,"She wheezed." _You better hope that I do not return, because if I do, then I am going to personally destroy you as slowly as I can_."

He responded strongly," _You will try._ "

She laughed," _That is a challenge I will take readily._ "

Then in her laughs, she started to cough and wheeze harder.

Once her fit was over she spoke with her final breath," _Let's hope my Lord believes in last chances like you_."

And she breathed her last.

Alone once more, Genesis looked at the death and destruction that had once more come about this room.

'Not one, not two, but all four,'He thought in sorrow.

Nobody had survived this battle.

He was the lone victor. Once more. How saddening this was to him.

He sighed in acceptance of these horrible events before he turned and walked to the center of the room.

There he stood, and there he reflected. Looking down he noticed that his hand had begun to shake.

' _ **IT'S BECAUSE OF YOU WE HAVE LOST EVERYTHING!'**_

Her words echoed in his head, and for some reason, they disturbed him greatly.

" _Why do her words haunt me?_ " He asked." _Was it simply the fury behind the words or was it something else that shakes me?_ "

Already he knew, he was just trying to avoid the answer for a time.

" _At that moment, I don't know who was speaking to me. Almawt or the poor soul she had captured in her claws_."

He sighed and fell to his knees.

Holding head down he held out his arms, palm up, and began.

" _Lord of all, please lend me your ear,_

 _Hear my words now as you have before,_

 _In the wake of this sadness, I ask for guidance_ …"

As he spoke he dug deep within himself and pulled at his real gift.

A white glow shone from underneath his skin, the light traveled down his arms and into his palms where it sprouted out in the form of white flames.

" _I ask for justice in the aftermath of this fight Lord,_

 _I ask for Judgement for the guilty_ …"

The fire started down his body before it spread out onto the floor and expanded.

" _Mercy for the innocent_ …"

The fire filled the chamber with it's presence and soaked everything in its stak glow.

" _For truth where there is lies_ …"

It climbed up the pillars and unto the ceiling.

" _Love where there is hatred_ …"

The fire bathed everything until, rocks started melting together, and the chamber started to be repaired.

" _Healing where there is sickness_ …"

The rock and debris was picked up and reapplied onto the spot where it was broken off of and was sealed onto its original place.

" _Peace where there is grief_ …"

The fire consumed the bodies of the generals and instead of burning, the fire entered their bodies and turned glowed before disappearing in a white flash.

" _And faith when there is doubt_ ,"

Taking in a deep breath he relished the peace and tranquility that he felt when he spoke to the Almighty.

" _Lend me strength in times of trouble,_

 _Wisdom in time of confusion,_

 _And hope when there is none,_

 _In all these things I know you'll do I say thank you Lord,_

 _Amen_."

Finishing his prayer the fire immediately vanished and he was greeted with the sight of a rebuilt chamber.

No pillars destroyed, no craters in the ground, no crystals jutting out of the ground or laying around.

It was restored to how it once was.

Seeing his work done he stood to his feet and glanced around the room to make sure no part was missed.

Satisfied he walked over to the crystal barrier he stood before it.

He could feel the dark foreboding presence behind the crystal, he felt it rage and struggle.

He felt the desire for freedom, and his death.

" _It would appear your servants have failed once more_ ," He spoke." _They are just like you. You have trained them well. By any means necessary they are willing to do what they feel is right to free you_."

He felt a spike of anger from the other side.

" _You are not going to be freed. I will guard this door til my last dying breath_."

A wave of pleasure came at the thought of his demise from the other side.

" _You think my death will come easily, but I will not be brought down so easily._ "

He felt the negative emotion from this. A challenge was proclaimed.

'Let me out, and we shall test that theory!'

He did not take the bait.

" _Your influence on them is strong. They are willing to die for you. For your beautiful lies. You damn so many. All for your expense. You believe you are worthy of this, and there lies your flaw. Your crimes are extensive, and yet you care not. So you extend them longer in your ignorance and arrogance_."

He tightened his fist in anger at the being behind the crystal.

" _Yet still, I am blamed for your crimes. I am blamed for all you have done to the innocent_." He said remembering her words. And whether or not, the soul beneath her was speaking.

" _Why?_ "He questions in distress." _Why do I cause more hurt than help when I mean to do otherwise?"_

He was met with a harsh feeling of mocking from the other side and he immediately steeled himself from the link's powerful connection.

" _All the damage you cause, and you are sealed away._ "He says with a shake of his head.

" _This only strengthens my resolve_ ,"He says strongly.

Placing a hand on the barrier a flash of white lit up the wall as the crystal thickened and strengthened.

" _I will not let you escape. You shall be trapped here, for the remainder of time. And I will be here to make sure of it!"_ He said with resolve.

Feeling a rise in pure malice he laughed at his enemy's spite and stepped back.

He took a seat in front of the barrier and crossed his legs, folding his hands into his lap.

He felt himself relax as he entered a meditative state and his skin and clothes hardened and turned into diamond.

And he was a statue once more.

Waiting alongside his enemy for the day when they would both face judgement.

 **X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X**

 **(A/N):Wow, that took a while. And was a lot longer than I thought it would be. I wrote like a man possessed these last few days. It was fun actually, now it's finished. Pardon any mistakes on my part.**

 **Tell me what you think in the reviews, and again, my apologies for the mistakes.**

 **Well this is GhostAngel14 saying, who knows when the next chapter will be cause I need a bit of a break. But will hopefully be soon. Til next time, seeyah!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 **Hello and welcome to chapter 2 of X-men:Genesis of Creation!**

 **I'm very embarrassed that it took this long. I'm very sorry for this, but hey, this is all in good fun anyways, I'll try to do better next time. No promises however.**

 **Before anything else however, I would like to give a shout out to**

 **knightphoenix2 for being my first review/follow/favorite.**

 **Thanks dude it really means alot to me!**

 **Alright so let's get this show on the road!**

 **Disclaimer(again ugh!):No changes on my person have occurred where I resemble Stan Lee...so yeah, nothing owned but the OC's.**

 **Warning!: This chapter contains scenes of Persecution and Racism of the specific time period. If you get offended or uncomfortable please skip it.**

'Regular Speech'

'SCREAMING'

'Thoughts'

' _Another Language_ '

' **Voice change with mood/power** '

 **X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X**

Humans are fools: complete and utter fools. There can be no other reason for their ignorance. Many seem to be under some false sense of security, some cosmic law that says they are untouchable. That their lives are ever expanding and will do so uninterrupted.

Fools, the lot of them.

Humans fear death, yet they believe that it will somehow pass them by until they say so. What idiotic thinking. Death cared not for consent. It was a thief, a sneaky, crooked, disgusting, foul, thief. Whenever it could, all it did was take and take and take.

Life after life, soul after soul. None were safe from it's cold bony clutches. And then, to add to another foolhardy notion of those worthless worms, the lot who feared not their death. They laughed and spat at death in its face, saying 'what fear have I of death, death will leave me with no more pain, so what is to fear?!'.

...idiots and fools the lot of them!

A common misconception among these pathetic mortals was that you felt nothing after death. That after your soul leaves the body, you are relinquished of the hold your flesh has on you and you simply float adrift to the winds.

Nothing but a fool's dream.

You feel pain even after death, just because you no longer have a body does not mean you can't experience pain. If someone has to say differently, than Almawt would have a few words for them.

If she still had teeth, they would be grit in trying to weather the feeling of what could only be called claws sunk into her, leaving a searing feeling of hot spikes into her back, and had carried her through a dark and cold void.

She didn't want to believe it, but they had lost. Again!

They had gone all out against their opponent, their wretched enemy, with stakes so high they could not even think to fail, but in the end, they had all been slain. Not even by him. They had slain themselves. He had not even fought them with at least half of his strength! He made them look like jokes!

Them! The Horsemen of Apocalypse himself! And had done it so effortlessly that she had cried in frustration and helplessness.

Oh the sheer humiliation of it!

She was glad the others had already been killed so that they would not see her in her moment of absolute shame.

Granted she had become more powerful in that moment in that life then she ever had been, but it is also what cost her to lose in the end.

Her raged had flared so hot that her powers reacted and grew with her fury, but in doing so she had pushed her abilities to the limit and then some. Doing so had pushed her body passed the natural limitations it had for itself and she had ended up killing herself by rising her temperature to heights too dangerous for even her mutated body. So in the long run. She had died simply from a high fever. How despicable.

Her pride was severely wounded.

And to top it all off, unless she could convince her Lord to give them one last chance...she didn't even want to think about it.

Right now her soul was being carried through a dark and cold realm of shadows.

Darkness spread all around her, there was no light, no sound, no scent. If any human were to end up here, they would be dead before they could even think to move. With three of the basic sense of senses gone, they were left stranded. But no mortal could ever enter here anyways. Only the dead entered here. And through this they would usually start to ascend to a higher land of peace, or descend to an eternity of torture.

But she was a special case, the carrier that had sunk its claws into her immortal consciousness was here to keep her aloft and between the two levels of death.

Because she had sworn loyalty to her master, he had been able to use these spirits to keep her soul from entering the next world completely. These dark evil spirits that cackled and taunted her and her failure. She had no real idea what they were, but she knew that her master had them at his beck and call. They did his bidding and caused mayhem and chaos. They would influence mortals and bring them pain to themselves and those around them. Humans had come to label these creatures demons.

Whether that was true or not, she dared not ask, at least not now. Not when her soul was actually flying lower than usual.

Her worries were put on halt when she came across three bright lights circling each other, each being carried by hideous disfigured beasts with slimey black leathery wings and seemed composed more of smoke then flesh.

She had slowed and carefully integrated herself into the circle of lights that loosely resembled human shapes.

"Well well _,_ "taunted the dark red one."Look who finally came to join us!"

This could only be Harb.

A soul usually reflected that of the person, and if the angry crimson and shifting and sparking of the soul wasn't enough to go by, the voice was enough.

Even though they no longer had bodies, no lips or throat to speak, their voices stayed with them. It was apart of who they were, one of their unique identities as individuals. And they spoke through a connection of minds that only occurred in this realm, it was strange. No one but the evil entities themselves could explain it themselves.

But they were seldom helpful to others.

"The reason for our very failure!" He screamed.

She had no doubt that if he still had a mouth, it would be turned up in an ugly sneer.

"Use his weakness she said, he won't kill us, we will kill him! You were right about one thing. He didn't kill us, you did!" The angry soul ranted.

She remained silent until he was done, for centuries of experience had taught her that when Harb got like this, then there was nothing to do but wait it out until he burned out his anger.

"We should never have listened to you! You and your arrogance have lead us to nothing but failure! I don't know why I remained complacent for so long. Clearly a mistake on my part. This is as much if not more my fault for allowing you to lead us to our graves!"

Even though he didn't need to, he panted from exertion after his vent.

"Are you done yet?"She said with heavy sarcasm.

"Yes i'm done,"He hissed."You're done, Waba's done, Mujaea's done, were all done! You said so yourself, this was our last chance. The last ounce of patience the master had has been spent."

In a more subdued voice he lamented,"Our fates are in the hands of the Almighty now."

The name caused their carriers to screech and shriek in displeasure. Their hatred seemed to leak from their wispy forms and they could practically taste the malice and fear they held for the name.

Inwardly she shivered at the horrific cacophony they released. But she remained as composed as she could, however the reality of the situation could not be ignored.

"I am well aware of the situation." She said when the roars turned to displeased growls.

"Are you?"He hissed."We are to face the wrath of both our master and the Almighty..."More screeches followed the exclamation,"...has your ignorance truly blinded you so? Even you cannot believe you are capable of dealing with that!"

It's a good thing she cannot get headaches. Harbs voice mixed with the terrifying bellows of the carriers is proving to be an assault on her spiritual ears that she honestly thought would kill a mortal with the sheer volume alone.

Never mind the fury and hatred within it.

"Of course I don't," She said keeping her irritation out of her voice,"But I have a plan."

Harb scoffed.

"Oh joy, another plan. Because the last one worked so well for all of us!"

"Will you shut up!"She snapped, her own dark amber soul flaring with her mood."If you would just be quiet for two minutes I might be able to get my thoughts straightened out!"

The bellicose spirit silenced with a huff.

"Now then,"She began in the silence."I am aware of our problem, but I am prepared to deal...with…"

She felt something.

It started off small, barely registering in her spirit, but it was growing. Larger and larger it grew. Something was coming.

Something big. Something terrible.

As the presence grew, she started to feel a cold, horrible dread growing within her. If she still had a body, she would be paralysed with fear. If it was possible for a soul to tremble in terror, she was sure she was doing it now.

Even the carriers were starting to shake and quiet before the oppressive feeling descending upon them.

In a shaken whisper Harb hissed,"You said you had a plan," She could feel his fear, it was mixing with all of theirs.

"Now would be the perfect time to implement it."

Not acknowledging him, she kept herself aware of the coming doom. The amount of power she was feeling was staggering and would of caused her to choke if she needed breath.

"It seems this is the end."

This was acknowledged by Mujaea. The light blue spirit who through this whole time was silent. Strange, this whole time she has been silent, which while not unusual, she would assume the other female of the group would of been a little more panicked like the rest of them.

She could hardly perceive any emotion from her fellow general besides a general feeling of emptiness. Barely a hint of sadness, but mostly nothing.

It was like the spirit was taken from her soul.

Before she could question her, she was slammed with a great pressure.

Feeling her spiritual force being compressed and stretched was a terrible sensation. It seemed as if someone was trying to crush and rip her apart at the same time.

A scream of pain rose from her before she could stop it. Harb tried to silence his but ended up grunting in pain.

Mujaea whimpered and would be crying if she still had eyes. All the while, Waba bore his pain in silence. Always a trooper.

As quickly as it started, the pain faded and they were left to an eerie silence.

But something was different. Something was wrong. They could feel themselves being watched by something. Or rather, someone.

"He's here,"Almawt whispered.

The carries stopped their revolution and faced them forward.

And their he was.

A giant orb of black flames that sputtered and burst in small explosions. A feeling of fury washed over them. The fear they felt earlier was nothing compared to what they felt now.

From the burning black sun, they could feel just how much he detested them. How much he wants to rip them to pieces, to eradicate them, completely wipe them from existence. And he could do so with barely a thought. She would've wept and begged for mercy if she wasn't so afraid to break the thick silence.

For a while, all was silent, no one dared speak or look away from the great being in front of them. They all were paralysed and locked in a terror induced trance.

'So powerful…' Almawt thought. She never failed to become entranced by her Lord's power. It was always so vast and magnificent. He was the epitome of strength and divinity. The others looked upon the giant ball of fire and saw nothing but death in the crackling and sizzling flames. But all she could see was beauty in the roaring inferno.

Whenever she even came close to doubting him, she always just reminded herself of his wonders.

It was not wrong to say that she was infatuated with her ruler.

He was her whole world. She existed for no other reason but to serve him, she went above and beyond to please him. To make him praise her for her deeds. She longed for that praise. Where his eyes looked on her with favor and blessing. She wished for him to look upon her like that again.

And if she was careful, she would get that chance.

"M-my Lord,"She mumbled."It is an honor to once more be in your presence-"

" **Silence!** "

The command struck them to the deepest part of their spiritual forms.

His voice, it was everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It was all encompassing. His voice deep and chill inducing. It was layered with the voices of hundreds of mutants he had taken for a new form before him.

When he spoke, it was like speaking to an army.

" **We are here yet again**."The voice echoed.

They whimpered at his utterly wrathful tone. It promised nothing but damnation.

" **Have I not made it clear that my patience was at its end?** " He questioned.

"You have my Lord."Almawt trembled.

" **Have I not made it clear that I will wait no longer?** "

"Y-You have my Lord"

" **Have I not given you enough chances to do as you are commanded?** "

"Y-Yes my Lord, but we-"

" **And you have failed. Have you not?** "

"...yes my Lord we have failed you."She whispered. It was the disappointment he held that she couldn't stand. How his faith in them was gone, and he no longer felt they were useful. The thought alone was more painful than anything.

" **Then tell me, what do you believe I should do with you?** "

She started to lose whatever composure she held and could feel terror starting to creep through her.

"Please my Lord,"She begged,"Show mercy to your faithful servants!"

All was quiet where it seemed he was actually bewildered by the suggestion. His black soul flared and sputtered in indignation.

" **You plead for mercy? Have I not shown you mercy for millennia already?!** "

His voice thundered in her mind and it was almost enough to shatter her spirit both literally and figuratively.

She also recalled how she had a conversation almost completely similar to this with Genesis when she had pushed him over his limit. But this confrontation would prove to be much more catastrophic if she could not calm her Lord.

" **You have brought shame to your titles, to the name of my Horsemen!** "The belligerent soul raged," **And have shown to me that you are all truly incompetent. Weak! Pathetic! Being in your presence sickens me!** "

His words were like arrows. Burning arrows of anger that pierced her soul and made her wish to curl in on herself and wallow in her shame and failure.

Their carriers had joined in on the harsh taunting. Cackling and jeering them mercilessly. They bore the humiliation in silence. For truly what could they do? Here they held no power. No way of escape, nothing to shield them from the fury of their God. Any attempt to speak back would be met with a piercing agony from Apocalypse.

It was best to let him continue his rant and say nothing.

No matter how much the part where her heart would be ached in a dull throb.

After a duration of time, he finally started to calm down and his soul, so close to the point of a supernova, started to calm and the black surface smoothed out.

When all was quiet, she gathered what remained of her courage and dared speak.

"W-We are sorry Master. You are right in all your accusations. We...we are not worthy to stand before you...we are...weak,"her voice broke at that last word and her pride had all but been smashed, but she needed to do this if her plan would work.

"We have no strength of our own. Our enemies have trampled us like snakes and we cannot stand. We have lost our way my Lord. Without your guidance, we have fallen away from you."She lamented. While this was part of her plan, her words were honest and true. Her Lord had to see that her words were genuine. Her grief real. He had to know his servant was suffering. He had too!

"It is all because of you that we have strength at all. You are what we live for. We have died for you time and time again. Hear my words and know that I am loyal and trustworthy!"

Her voice had yielded to desperation and the quiver in her voice was not lost on her. But she didn't care. She just wanted to convince her Lord to spare them. That they would not shame his name anymore. They would repent in their ways and be the warriors and soldiers he had called together.

"So I plead with you now my Lord, my Master, my God. If you were to give us another chance, we would not fail you again. You are the pinnacle of our existence! If you were let us show you we can still be of use to you, I promise, we will not fail again. We will set you free!"

Her voice echoed in the void and the emotion ran through all of them and they waited for his verdict.

The agony returned. But greater this time.

None of them were silent this time, they screamed for all they were worth. Their voice fused into a single wail of pain.

"Master please!"Almawt begged through her screams."Please! We will not fail! I promise!"

She could feel her spirit being pulled in all directions, her master's power seeking to tear her soul to pieces. In only a few more seconds her existence would be shattered and she would become nothing but a memory to the stream of time. A useless thread to the quilt of the big picture. The thought terrified her, but most of that was due to her pride. And so in those last few seconds, before her consciousness was destroyed, she did something that she never would of done in any situation under any circumstances. In a pain filled and desperate cry she called out to her master,"I Invoke The Right of Creation!"

The pain screeched to a halt and she sighed in relief.

Then she realised what she had done. A forbidden act had just been done before her Lord, and she was the one to do it.

A part of her wished she had just accepted her fate and let him destroy her, but she had something to prove.

It was eerily silent and even the carriers had gone completely silent at her proclamation. She felt her Lord's presence bare down on her soul. She felt the full weight of his power overwhelm her spirit, but even in the oppressiveness of the feeling, she still couldn't help but be amazed at the sheer volume of his power. It was so magnificent.

" **What did you say?** "He whispered in barely restrained fury.

His seething tone had snapped her out of her reverence and she was reminded of her blight. She needed to be very careful from now on.

"I-I,"She stuttered,"I Invoke...the Right of Creation."

The silence returned and it constricted her. She waited for the verdict of her action and prayed that it would not end with her demise.

" **You dare…** "He hissed." **You dare speak such words to me? You would dare invoke-?!** "

She shivered as his wrath poured into her spirit, dreading that he would ignore her plea. But he couldn't break the pact, he was commanded to obey their rights. In that small sense, her Lord was limited.

She felt his anger build in her until it felt like it would boil over and explode. It was like trying to hold the sun in a cup, it burned and fought within its prison until the vessel inevitably shattered.

Just as it was going to erupt, the anger slowly started to die away, and to her great relief-and slight disappointment-her master's presence left her and she was left feeling the biggest sense of relief she had ever felt.

" **You have truly fallen,** "He lamented. His response shocked her." **To think my lead General would commit such treachery against me. You have shamed yourself, and your brethren in arms.** "

She felt a great flood of shame wash over her, his disheartened tone making her feel like she had torn his heart out and stomped it in his face.

She wanted to cry.

"Not to hurt you my Lord, I promise, but I need to show you that I-we-are still useful to you. We can set you free and redeem ourselves. Show you that we are still worthy to be called your horsemen."

His silence invoked fear in her soul, and she feared for herself again.

" **So be it,** "He sighed," **You have one final chance to release me, if you succeed, I will forgive your past failures. But should you fail, you will find yourselves at the mercy of the one far worse than I.** "

He didn't have to scream or rant, but the threat was there, and it said more than his rage could ever fill. But she felt herself brighten in joy and relief. The other three feeling the same.

"Thank you my Lord, thank you, thank you, thank you!"She cried.

" **One thing,** "He said.

Their joy ceased and they felt a sharp spark of fear go through them.

" **When you down Genesis, leave him alive. I am the one who will slay him. Understood!** "

The four shared a group feeling of satisfaction and malicious glee at the thought of their Lord being the one to strike their hated enemy down. The guardian of his tomb, destroyed by the very thing he had fought so hard to keep buried.

Yes! It was perfect!

Centuries of humiliation suddenly retributed in a wonderfully sweet taste of irony. That would do just nicely.

Laughing wickedly she replied,"I understand my Lord."

He grunted in satisfaction.

" **Take them back to the living,** "He commanded their carriers. The evil spirits groaned in disappointment at not being able to drop them to their fates but reluctantly followed the order. Their ethereal claws dug into their spiritual forms and carried them away from the burning ball of fury.

In all their minds, they reflected about what just transpired, but none more so than Almawt. In her mind she prayed to her Lord, asking for the strength she would need to prevail and his guidance in choosing a worthy mutant to be here vessel. But above all, she thanked him for his mercy and guidance.

In return she promised, the death of his greatest enemy as offering. She would deliver it personally.

 **Chicago,1975 A.D(2 Years after Mutant Reveal)**

The old house was still and silent in the night, the chipped paint peeling slowly from the walls leaving the house patchy, discolored and ugly much like other structures in the ghetto areas. The residents inside sound asleep in the deafening silence. In the largest room slept a man and a woman in a small bed that barely fit both of them.

The only noise heard was the light snores of the man as his exhaustion from the hard day of work finally caught up to his sore body. Next to him, his wife slept peacefully despite her husband's 'log sawing'.

The night was quiet and undisturbed and the couple relished in each others warmth and snuggled in deeper to the blankets and pillows.

An echo of thunder traveled silently in the air.

The man stirred in his sleep. A second rumble flared. Sharper and more pronounced than the last. He grunted in annoyance.

 _*BANG*_

He shot up.

He breathed in and out slowly and settled his startled heart rate.

Running a hand down his face he sighed while scratching his thick black beard. He slowly laid himself down and stared at the ceiling, cracked and dusty, just like the rest of this house. With another sigh he let his eyes droop before he allowed himself to be pulled back into sleep.

 _*RING-RING*_

He started at the sharp tone.

Confused and slightly alert it took time for him to realize that it was the ringing of the telephone. The one they had downstairs.

With an aggravated huff he slowly unwrapped himself from the blankets and gently stood from the bed as to not stir his wife.

With a scratch to his bare chest he made his way out the room and down the hall, the dark wood creaked and groaned all the way. Making his way down the stairs was even louder as each step sounded like it was gonna give way to his weight and he grimaced at the noise.

He grumbled under his breath in irritation at being awake at probably 2 in the morning. Stepping into the living room he stared at the offending machine that dared disturb the peaceful night sleep he was having in bed. With a glare he trudged over to the small table that sat next to his recliner and picked up the phone to stop the-infuriating!-ringing and brought it up to his ear.

"Hello?"

His deep voice was fogged and chapped with sleep and he rubbed his eyes to unblur his vision.

"Levi! Oh thank God," a voice said exclaimed.

His eyes widened in confusion at the voice."John?"He questioned.

"Yeah its me Levi. Are you ok? Are Joanna and the boys alright?"

His brow rose and he felt a touch of concern at the questions.

"Yeah John, were all ok. What's this about? Why are you calling in the middle of the night?"

The other side was quiet for a few seconds.

"Oh God,"John whispered,"You don't know…"

His grave tone woke up what was still sleep in him and he felt an icy chill start to pervade his heart.

"John what are you talking about?"

John went quiet again, a lot longer this time."John?"He asked, thinking they got cut off.

"Turn on your television."John commanded in a trembling voice.

"Why?"He questioned.

"Just do it, it's bound to be on every channel by now anyway."

John's tone gave him pause. At the factory, John was always cool and collected, so to hear him sound so angry yet scared at the same time put him on edge.

Wordlessly he tucked the phone between his ear and shoulder and searched the room until he found the remote. He flicked the tv on and blinked at the bright light before focusing on the image.

His heart stopped.

A pretty reporter spoke at her desk with an emotionless and almost uncaring facial expression. But what caught his attention was the title at the bottom of the screen.

' _Riot in the Ghettos: Mutant Genocide on the March'_ '

His heartbeat pounded in his ears as he gazed at the screen in stunned disbelief.

"Levi?"

John's voice broke him out of his trance.

"John,"He whispered in the receiver,"What's going on?"

"It's the people Levi, they've gone crazy. It's been boiling up to this ever since mutants were revealed two years ago. They're scared Levi, and that means they're angry at the same time."

Levi's eyes never left the screen as he see's the live reporter on the scene looking out at a burning house surrounded by an angry mob that somehow burned with a hotter fire than the house.

"What started it?"He asked.

"I don't know. But I just know that people are afraid, and their going on a hunt to 'remove' it. And they're starting right in the ghettos."

"But we're not mutants!"He protested.

"As far as they're probably concerned Levi, anything that doesn't have white skin is probably a mutant to them."

He stopped and his mind went blank. Then everything made sense.

It was an excuse. A way to attack two 'stains' on white America at the same time. It was almost funny when you looked at it and squint real hard.

He took a deep breathe to try to compose himself. He cleared his mind of the fear that tried to fog his rational mind and get him to act on instinct. He couldn't afford to fall apart now.

"How close is it to us?"He questioned.

"The mob started on Main street and it's been moving down from their. But people are breaking off in groups to go down side streets."John informed.

He swore under his breathe, it was close, only about half a mile out. Apparently getting closer too. He didn't know how much time he had before they got to his door. Panic started to scratch at his mind. What was he gonna do?

"Listen,"John spoke,"Stay calm ok. Do you still have that walkie I gave you?"

"Yeah,"He said absently,"I still got it."

"Good,"John sighed."Is there a safe place in your house that you can hold yourselves in?"

He thought quickly,"Yeah, we got an old fallout shelter in the backyard. Been keeping it stocked just in case."

"Alright good. Listen, i'm gonna come get you and your family out of there."

His breath hitched at the exclamation.

"What? No, John I can't ask you to do that."

"Then don't ask me. Your one of the best friends I got Levi, I ain't gonna leave you and your family to die."

He felt a deep sense of gratitude towards John for his kindness and friendship. It brought him close to tears.

"I already talked to Lisa and she says it's ok if you stay at our house for a while. We got plenty of room."John said.

Knowing how stubborn John was he simply sighed in acceptance to his offer.

"Alright. But if it gets too risky then you turn right around and head home. got it?"

"Got it." No he didn't. They both knew.

"Ok, im gonna come to you."John said,"You make sure you get everyone into that shelter and grab anything you can use for a weapon. Hopefully you won't need to use it, but just in case. And if anyone but me tries to get to you don't open the door!"He stresses.

"Ok."Levi says."We'll be ready. Be careful."

"Same to you. Keep that walkie handie. I'll keep in touch."

He hung up.

Levi stood there for a spell and let the silence seep into his ears before he put down the receiver. Turning off the tv he hastily made his way up the steps, not caring about how much noise he made this time.

He stormed into his room and made his way over his wife.

"Joanna!"He called.

He grabbed her shoulder and shook her. She grumbled in protest.

He shook harder."Joanna come on wake up!"

She stirred and turned to him with unfocused eyes.

"Levi?"She questioned in a scratchy tone.

"Come on now get up."He said.

"What's going on?"

"We're not safe, we gotta go."

"What?"

Seeing her awake he made his way over to his dresser and pulled out a pair of trousers and a plain grey shirt.

"Levi what's going on?" She questioned.

"We're not safe. We gotta get outta the house." He said as he slipped on his pants.

"What's the matter?"She said in a shaky voice.

"People have snapped,"He warned as he slipped on his shirt,"They comin in the ghetto, huntin for mutants."

"But we ain't mutants!"She protested. He almost laughed at her response. Just like his.

"As long as we ain't white. We are mutants."

His response floored her and her eyes widened as understanding came to her.

"Oh Lord no,"She whispered.

"I just got off the phone with John,"He said while rummaging through his drawers."He said he was gonna come get us and let us stay in his house."

Not hearing a response he turned to his wife and saw her eyes unfocused and shaking in terror.

He went over and knelt before her.

"Joanna."

No response.

"Joanna!"

He grabbed her shoulders and her eyes looked to him without truly seeing him.

"Listen to me, we have to move. We gotta keep the boys safe."

That made her snap out of her fear induced hypnosis.

"Okay listen, I gotta grab a few more things from the room, you need to wake up the boys and get them downstairs. Can you do that?"

She slowly nodded her head.

He gave her a reassuring smile and pecked her on the lips.

"Good, go get the boys, I'll be down real soon."

She nodded, more confidently this time, and stood from the bed.

She grabbed her robe and slipped it on before rushing to their sons room.

He made his way back to the dresser and rummaged through for a few more seconds before pulling out a small walkie talkie and checking it too make sure it still worked.

He tucked it into his pocket and craned his neck to see if Joanna was coming back.

Seeing the doorway empty he opened his second drawer and stared at the silver revolver that sat between some old sheets next to a box of bullets.

He hesitated for only a second before picking it up.

He inwardly debated with himself about using it. He, himself, hated guns. He hated their history, their purpose, and reason for creation. Tools were created to build and construct. But a gun was a tool used for the sole purpose of destruction. Nothin but killin.

He hated having this thing in the house, it was a danger to him and his family. But he understood that they weren't living in the safest place in the city and therefore he had to have a way to protect his wife and kids. Even if he hated how he had to do it. But it looked like his worst enemy was gonna become his closest ally, just like he feared.

So with a heavy sigh he slid out the cylinder and poked in the six bullets before pushing the cylinder back in and tucking the weapon in his pocket. Hopefully where it will stay.

Exiting his room he stopped to see Elijah, his 14 year old son standing outside in the hallway with tired confusion on his face.

"Dad, what's going on?"He asked.

"We gotta get to safety. We ain't safe in here."

"What do you mean?"

"Joanna you got Louis?"He called into the room.

"I got him!"She called back.

She came out with an 7 year old boy in white and red pj's who stumbled in his tiredness and had to be held up mostly by her.

"Dad, you're kinda freaking me out, what's the matter?"

He turned to his eldest,"We ain't safe. So we're getting outta the house. That's all you need to know right now." His tone left no room for defiance or argument.

"Yes sir,"Elijah drawled in a tired voice.

"Good. Come on, we gotta get to the shelter out back."

"Come on baby,"Joanna cooed as she guided the tired child cautiously down the steps.

He placed his hand on Elijah's shoulder to guide him down too.

Getting halfway down the steps a flash of headlights across the front curtains gave them pause.

Levi felt his heartbeat spike in fear. John couldn't possibly be here yet could they?

"Levi, is that John?"Joanna whispered.

"No, it can't be. That was way too fast. And he'd of told me when he was close."

Feeling his pulse in every part of his body, Levi snuck past the rest of his family and made his way to the curtains by the front windows.

He peeled back the white curtains just a bit and peeked out across the street. A red truck was parked in front of the house across his and a group of men poured from the back and stormed up to the house.

His breath caught at the sight of them wielding makeshift weapons from shovels, metal pipes, bats, and one man even had a hunting rifle.

He watched in a numb and terrified trance as the group violently banged on the door, shouting vile obscenities and attacking the door with the fervor of a starved predator on a rampage for it's prey.

One member of the bloodthirsty party moved the others out the way and smashed the door in with a mighty kick.

They rushed into the house and he could hear the smashing of furniture and screaming of the men inside.

He felt a hand on his shoulder that made him jump in place.

"Oh Lord no. That's Jacob's house."Joanna whispered in horror.

He didn't even register her voice as he kept his focus on the house across the street.

Soon, the group returned, but not empty handed.

The group of men dragged out a family kicking and screaming and threw them down onto the street.

One of the members of the deadly mini-mob picked up a skinny colored man off the ground by the scruff of his shirt and held him up to his face.

"Jacobs."Levi whispered in recognition.

The man yelled and swore in Jacob's face, his words dipped in hatred and disgust. Jacobs appeared to try to reason with him but the man kept yelling louder and louder.

Jacobs held up his hands as if surrendering and tried to voice his compliance to whatever the man wanted but was rewarded with a vicious backhand that made Levi wince.

The others laughed cruelly as Jacobs tried to get a word in but only ended in a him getting slapped around some more.

Jacobs wife and daughter, cried for them to let him go, to the great amusement of the men holding them down.

The man threw Jacobs down and backed away, he yelled something to the group that stood aside, and had been staring at Jacobs like a piece of meat. And that's when the horror started.

The group pounced on him and were immediately beating him to the dirt.

They pounded him with their fists and stomped him down with their boots. Jacobs futilely tried to cover himself with the best of his ability but they worked around his defenses, striking wherever he couldn't cover and when he shifted to protect himself they attacked their too.

He was helpless.

His wife and daughter shrieked for them stop and leave him alone. But the ones holding them back laughed and shoved them too the dirt before beginning their own personal beating.

The first man commanded the others off Jacob and stood over the man as he was bruised and bloodied from the feral mauling of fists and boots.

The man sneered down at Jacobs and picked up a metal pipe that one of the group discarded.

Jacobs could barely move and look at him due to both of his eyes being swelled shut. It looked like he tried to give one last plea for mercy but it was met with a downward strike from the metal pipe.

The man raised it up again and brought it down again. And again. And again. Over and over and over.

The group laughed and jeered as the apparent leader of this team mercilessly beat Jacobs with the pipe, each strike sounding a break of a bone. Jacobs blood started to splatter the ground but his aggressor just kept hitting. His wife and daughter only cried and pleaded as their attackers let up to make them watch Jacobs be beaten to death.

The man finally stopped and stepped back to examine his work with a blood splattered smirk on his face.

Jacobs was alive, but barely, he twitched and squirmed in his pain and tried to call out for his wife and daughter.

They tried to respond but were too choked up by tears and blood to say anything to him. The men just laughed.

Jacobs feebly tried to reach for his daughter's hand and she in turn tried to grab it.

The moment moved so slowly but seemed to take all the attention of the men. They watched transfixed as the beaten family still showed its last few reserves of strength and used it not to fight back or beg like the pathetic things that they are, but to reach out for one another.

Jacobs hand feebly stretched, closer and closer to his child.

Before he could move any more, a bloodied metal pipe came down and crushed his hand with a sickening crunch.

The men snapped out of their trance and erupted once more into a frenzied mob for death.

A man stepped forward with his rifle pointed at the downed family. He placed his boot onto Jacob's stomach and aimed it straight at his head.

 _*BANG*_

Levi stepped away from the window.

His eyes were wide and unfocused as he tried to process the sheer and utter carnage he just witnessed.

He heard Joanna start to hyperventilate next to him but he didn't even register her, the sight of a dying Jacobs all he could see in front of him.

"That was a gunshot wasn't it?"Elijah asked in a trembling voice.

Levi felt bile start to crawl it's way up from his stomach.

"That was Jacobs and his family,"Joanna whispered,"I just talked to his wife about having a dinner party yesterday."

Levi licked his dry lips and gulped.

"Dad,"A voice squeaked.

He looked down to see his youngest looking at him.

"What's going on?"He asked.

Seeing his son looking up at him for reassurance snapped him out of his shell shocked state. He needed to get them to safety.

He mentally shook himself before hardening his heart to the images in his head.

He turned to Joanna.

"We don't have much time, sneak the kids to the back."

Still shaken she could only nod.

She grabbed Louis by his hand and led him forward while he pushed Elijah away from the window and told him to follow his mother.

When he was alone he took a glance back at the window and tentatively lifted the edge of the curtains.

Jacobs corpse was left bleeding on the ground and the men laughed and spat at the body while his wife and daughter howled in despair.

Levi watched as the men hauled up the woman, both bruised and bloodied and threw them in the back of the truck. They loaded on and circled the mother and daughter as they held onto one another for safety.

He heard the engine turn on and they prepared to drive off but one younger member glanced to his left and stared...right at him.

He zipped out of sight and stepped away from the window.

His heart pounded in his ears and he figured that now was most probably the right time to leave.

He quickly slipped on a pair of shoes before making his way out the back.

The shelter was left with one door open for him.

He quickly walked over and went down the few steps before turning around and closing the door.

He locked it and gave it a good shake to make sure it was sturdy.

He traveled down further and was met with the sight of his family all huddled down together on a dusty old blanket in the corner, the only light given by the small lantern next to his wife.

The shelter wasn't much, it was small, barely enough room for them. Not large enough for beds so that's what the spare blankets and pillows were for. Whatever room was left was taken up by shelves that were stocked with canned food, water, flashlights, batteries, first aid kits. Everything they needed to survive in case of an emergency where they needed to be held up in here for a while.

Unfortunately that time was now.

He allowed himself a brief breath of relief before making his way over to his family.

He took a seat next to Joanna and Louis crawled into his lap. He wrapped his arms around his son and held him against his chest.

Levi could feel the warmth coming from him and it calmed him down some.

"Dad what's going on? Why are we in here?"

He looked down and saw Louis's big eyes looking at him with fear and confusion.

"We uh,"He started,"We gotta hold ourselves in here for a bit Louis."

"Why?"

"Because…"He tried to think of a way to tell him without scaring his son anymore but he had no way to tone it down. They were in trouble, plain and simple.

"We aren't safe in the house right now,"He finished.

"Why?"

He sighed. That seemed to be the boys favorite question, no matter the circumstances.

"Louis,"Joanna admonished,"Your father said we wasn't safe, that means we wasn't safe. Stop questioning and be quiet."

"But-"

"Quiet boy!"

Louis kept quiet.

Joanna sighed and stroked Louis's face.

"I know you worried baby, but you gotta listen to us ok? No talkin back or askin questions, just do what you're told okay?"

He nodded his head against Levi's chest.

She turned to Elijah.

"And the same goes to you, ya hear?"

He looked apprehensive but nodded his head in understanding.

"Good,"She sighed."Now, the both of you, try to go back to sleep, ya'll to young to be up this early."

Elijah looked like he wanted to argue but one look from Levi warned him better of it. So he laid down across the blanket and closed his eyes.

Louis was out before they even let set him down next to his brother.

When she was sure both of the boys were sound asleep she turned to her husband with unshed tears in her eyes.

"Oh Levi,"She whimpered.

Levi shushed her as her held her close to him.

She buried her face into his shoulder and wept. She encircled her arms around her husband and her body shuddered with her muffled sobs.

Levi held her and felt his own fear and sorrow start to creep into him but he held them at bay. He needed to be strong for his family now.

He'd have time to grieve later. He hoped.

He pulled her back and looked her in shiny brown eyes.

Levi wiped his thumbs over his wife's tear streaked cheeks.

She sniffled as she relished the feel of Levi's hands on her cheeks, a feeling she had grown so accustomed to, one she feared losing.

"Jacobs,"She sobbed."He's...he's dead. Oh God he's dead."

Levi stayed silent and let his wife bare her sorrow.

"Why? Why would anybody do this? Jacobs never hurt nobody. He got him a good job, provided for his family, was always on time for church. He was a good man. Why would anyone wanna do that to him?"She lamented.

Levi only shook his head. Not really having an answer.

"It's a cruel world we livin in." Was all he could give.

Joanna sniffled some more before looking at Levi with emotions swirling in her eyes.

"Levi,"She broached,"I got so scared when I saw them hurtin Jacobs like that. All I could imagine was that it was you out there. Bein beaten and shot. That ain't no way for anyone to die. Just thinkin that it might be you out there gettin shot at and stomped to the ground…"She trailed off.

"And-and the boys…"She choked on the thought.

Levi held the same fear.

Thinkin it could be his boys out there, being torn apart by a mob all hopped up on rage. He felt his stomach clench at the very idea. He'd rather it be him before them anyday. Hopefully it wouldn't have to come to that.

He kissed his distraught wife on the forehead and rubbed her shoulders.

"There's no need in worrying about that. We safe for now. Let's just wait and pray that John gets here soon."

She nodded her head in acceptance.

He nodded towards the boys,"You go on and get some sleep too. You still tired."

"What about you?"

"I gotta stay up so that I can hear if John calls."

"You'll get tired."

"I'll be ok."

"No you won't."

"I'll make it."He insisted.

"...ok, but wake me in a bit so that then you can get some rest."

"Okay."He agreed.

Joanna laid down next to Louis and gathered the boy in her arms. He snuggled up closer to her.

Levi sighed. He didn't plan to wake her at all. She would be upset later but he'd deal with it. She needed time to unwind.

So he settled into his spot and leaned up against the wall.

He allowed himself to relax a little and content himself with the sound of his families breathing in the still silence.

He started to feel his eyes droop before they snapped open again. He shook himself and opened his eyes as wide as he could. But they started to droop again.

He fought this process for as long as he could before his fatigue won him over.

He didn't know how much time passed but he was jolted awake by the sound of static.

He quickly fished into his pocket and pulled out the walkie talkie.

"John?"He asked into the small box.

"It's me Levi _,_ "John's voice replied.

He sighed in relief at knowing his friend was alright.

"Is everyone ok?"John questioned.

"We're all ok. If a little shaken."

"What happened?"

"One of those small groups you were talking about made their way down our street. Saw em drag out neighbor and his family out his own house. They beat and shot him right in front of his wife and daughter before taking them off somewhere."

He heard John swear softly under his breath.

"But you're ok right?"

"Yeah we're ok. The others are sleeping. What about you, are you ok?"

It was quiet for a few seconds before he replied.

"Yeah, yeah i'm good _._ "

Levi felt relief but also a slight trickling of worry at how he seemed hesitate to answer.

"Ok, good. How much longer before you get here?"

The pause was much longer this time. And for a second he thought they had somehow gotten cut off from one another.

"John?"

"I'm still here _._ "

His voice was suddenly tired and frustrated. It caught Levi off guard.

"John…?"

"Levi, we've got a problem."

His heart started to pound again.

"What's the matter?"

"It's the police. They have any and all ways into the city blocked off. I can't get in _._ "

His heart sounded in his ears. He didn't like where this was going.

"So, does that mean they're sending people in to help stop the killings?"

"..."

"John?"

"..."

"John!"

"I'm here _._ "He whispered, then was silent again.

"Well, are they?!"He stressed.

He heard John give the most exhausted and angry sigh he had ever heard.

"No. They're not. They're there to contain the violence. Not stop it. Just like how they're not letting anyone in, their not letting anyone out either."

His words hit him like a ton of bricks. He was only barely aware of the sound of John hitting something and swearing loudly.

"Damn bastards! I heard some of them going on about joining in on the whole thing. Mounting a few mutie heads on their walls they said. Sick cowards!"

He felt his body go numb. He felt nothing, his chest felt empty and he wasn't even aware if he was still breathing.

He heard John sigh again after his mini rant.

"Listen to me Levi, i'm not giving up. I am getting you out of there. I'll find a different way in. Even if I have to plough through houses to get there. Don't give up Levi i'm coming ok?"

He felt himself nod.

"Levi?"

He started.

"Yeah, I hear ya John."

"Good. Levi, i'm not so sure I can get to your house anymore, it looks like from where i'm sitting is that most of the mob has moved inward. They're closing in on you guys. I can't get you out safely if I have to worry about them."

"So what are we gonna do?"He asked with no real hope for a plan.

"This is risky, but it can work if you're quick and quiet. I can't get to you where you are now, so we need a new place where I can get to you. You need to leave the shelter _._ "

His heart stopped.

"What?"He asked incredulously.

"I know it's crazy,"He calmed,"But really what other options do we have? Those people will come tearing through your home soon enough. They'll destroy your house looking for you. It'll be a miracle if they don't check the backyard and see a convenient little fallout shelter that could be used to hide in. At least with leaving you have a chance. However slim it may be."

He had a point. And really, could he risk the chance?

If it was just him then maybe he'd do it but he had a family to think about.

In the long run they were what he had to protect. Not himself.

So now it was the famous choice. The lesser of two evils. Which one was it?

He needed to decide fast but also make the right decision. Risk his family being killed, or risk his family being killed with no hope of escape?

He'd made his choice.

"Okay."He sighed."We'll leave. Where do you need us to be?"

"I know an old trail through the woods that'll put me down on Baker street. I figure the mob will be too focused on going down Main to focus on any other areas not directly in their line of sight."

Once again he was floored. And the slim hope they had was slowly dying away.

"John,"He whispered,"Baker street isn't an option. If we were to get there, we'd have to go all the way across town. It's not safe. We'd never make it!"

"I know! But we really have no other option. I'm getting to you one way or another. Now if that's through a dark forest or a mob filled street it doesn't matter to me, so you decide."

He grit his teeth in the position he was in. He had to get Joanna and the kids to safety no matter what but he couldn't risk the life of another man to do it. It would defeat the purpose to save one life just to damn another.

He punched the floor.

"We'll come to you."He ground out.

"Okay,"John said,"I'm sorry Levi, I wouldn't have you do this in any other circumstance if I could help it. But we don't have a choice, you need to leave now. I'm on my way."

"You get to the edge of the forest and wait. Don't come lookin ya hear?"

"I hear." No he didn't.

The static quieted.

All he could do was sit and let everything sink in. None of it made sense.

He felt a hand place itself on his.

He didn't look up and just let the hand rub against his soothingly. But he couldn't feel it.

"I heard,"Joanna whispered."We have to go."

"I know,"He whispered back."I'm just scared."

Her hand reach up and was placed on his cheek. Her fingers intertwined into his beard and tilted his head so he could look into her tender brown eyes.

"I can tell. You already know i'm scared."She assured."We both scared. Not for ourselves, but for each other and for the boys. I know you Levi Jones. You would throw down everything to save your family. But I won't let you. Not when you're still needed, for the boys, and for me."

He breathed slowly as she unraveled his entire will to sacrifice.

She was good at that. 'Too good' he thought.

"Hopefully we don't have to cross that bridge. Let's get out of here."

She nodded and turned to wake the boys.

He stood from his seated position and stretched his aching back.

"Levi!"Joanna called. He turned to see her hunched over Louis.

"He won't wake up."She cried.

He kneeled down and saw Louis was in a troubled sleep. His breathing uneven and a little rushed.

"He feels warm,"Joanna said."He won't wake up for nothin if he ain't feelin good."

He swore under his breath. Of all the times…!

He swooped up Louis's small body and cradled his head into the crook of his neck while supporting his body with his arm.

"Let's go!"He commanded.

They rushed for the exit but came to a halt at the sound of banging.

The bunker doors jiggled as a rough pounding sounded against it.

Levi felt his heart jump into his throat. He tried to swallow it back down but it only succeeded in making his mouth taste like cotton.

He snuck a look at Joanna the same time she looked at him.

He glanced down at Louis and then back to her.

She stepped forward and took him from his arms. With his hands free he placed his hands into his pocket and wrapped his hand around the gun.

For some sickening reason, he felt a wave of comfort wash over him.

He hoped he wouldn't get used to it.

The banging had stopped and they were waiting for any other sounds of forced entry.

They stayed frozen in place for a minute. Then another. And another.

Levi took a few tentative steps forward. When he reached the door he placed his ear against the wood.

Outside he heard the faint sound of guns going off, but they were too far away to offer any real danger yet. From outside he heard nothing. No footsteps or shuffling around. It seemed clear.

With his other hand still in his pocket he slowly undid the lock and pushed the door open just a notch.

Peaking through the small crevice he saw nobody on the other side of the door. But that didn't mean they weren't hiding.

He turned back to his family and held up a hand to tell them to wait.

They wanted to protest but he was already sneaking his way out of the small shelter.

He closed the door behind him and looked around the backyard.

He took a few steps forward and turned around at the snapping of a twig.

Nothing but the old tree in the corner of the fence.

Getting an uneasy feeling he crept to the tree. He started to circle the tree when in a blur, someone knocked him over.

He crashed to the ground in a heap, his hand going into his pocket for his weapon.

His attacker lunged at him and wrapped their fingers around his neck.

He grabbed the person by the wrists and squeezed as hard as he could. His heart pumping wildly he grappled with the person until he was able to weaken the man's grip and his fingers went slack.

Flipping them over he sat on top of the man's torso and quickly drew his gun to point it at the man's face.

With his adrenaline starting to slow he looked down and was shocked at what he saw.

Instead of an angry man with bloodlust in his eyes he saw a shaking black boy, barely older than Elijah, his eyes filled with fear and hysteria. But what shocked him the most was the blood over his entire face.

Looking him over he saw that he was covered head to toe in crimson.

But he couldn't make out an injury, which meant only one thing. It wasn't his blood.

Feeling his mouth dry out he swallowed and looked the boy straight into his eyes.

"Hey,"He whispered.

The boy started to struggle against his grip. He had to tighten his hold before putting his gun away.

"Hey, hey calm down. I ain't gonna hurt you,"He eased.

The boy didn't seem to register him or his words. He was still following his basic survival instinct.

Sighing he got off the boy and let him scramble away.

The boy looked to him with haunted and terrified eyes. He had seen some things this night. And they'd probably stick with him for the rest of his life.

He knelt down and let the boy gaze at his face.

"Calm down boy, you're safe,"He whispered.

The boy violently shook his head.

"N-no. N-Not safe. Never no more!"

His voice was shaky and slurred. The signs of some sort of mental disorder.

"M-mama!"He cried out.

He tried to shush the boys yelling but he just kept screaming.

"M-mama, hurt, don't hurt mama!"

Tears started to stream down his face as his screams started to die down to whimpers.

"Mama sleepin, won't wake. Mama wake up. No. Mama gone, where? Where my mama?"

Levi huffed in sorrow for the boy. His mother was gone, he probably saw it and yet has no idea what happened.

"I'm sorry but, she's dead."Levi apologized.

The boy shook his head.

"No! Gone. Where she gone?"

Levi could only shake his head. He had no idea how to approach this situation, he had no experience dealing with those of a mental disorder. His mind was wired differently, instead of seeing his mother as being dead, he simply thought she left somewhere. How could he explain this? After careful thought, he got an idea.

"I know where she is,"He said encouragingly.

The boy continued his crying.

"Hey now, it's alright. I know where she is."

His crying had started to slow down. He looked up to Levi, tears streaming down his face.

"Mama?"He asked.

"Yeah yeah. I know where she is."

"Where mama?"

With a smile he hoped was comforting he spoke calmly,"She's in heaven. You know about heaven right?"

He mentally cheered at the nod he received.

"She's in heaven now. Where she can run and jump and laugh forever."

"M-mama, happy? Safe?"He stuttered.

"She's the happiest and safest she could ever be,"He smiled.

Those words calmed him down significantly, he stopped shaking and his crying was reduced to sniffling. And while he still seemed scared, he was calmer now.

"Miss, mama."He sniffled.

"I understand,"Levi said."Listen, it's not safe here. We have to go. You can come with me and my family, we're going somewhere safe. Is that ok?"

He didn't respond for a while, simply looking at him with glazed over eyes.

Slowly, stiffly, he nodded his head. And the corner of his mouth lifted up in the smallest most unnoticeable smile.

 _*BANG*_

Levi jumped and backpedaled when the boy's chest exploded in a shower of blood and bone.

The slow youth only had a second to display the immeasurable pain on his face before he slumped forward and fell to his face.

Levi was so shocked by this that he didn't hear the cocking of the gun and footsteps of the murderer.

The steps stopped right in front of him and he felt the nose of a gun poke his chest.

"Don't move ya little shit,"A voice growled.

He lifted his eyes up to see the boy from before, the one who had spotted him, pointing a shotgun right at him with eyes that burned with a disgusting hatred.

"Is it just you or are there others?"He sneered.

Levi seemed to stare right through the boy, as if he wasn't even there.

The boy struck him in the gut knocking the air out of him.

He hunched over and coughed harshly.

"I'm talking to you!"He seethed."What's the matter, you stupid or something?"He gestured to the dead boy,"Like that retard was,".

Levi felt his shock give way to a fresh feeling of fear and rage. He couldn't reach for his gun without alerting the boy of what he was trying to do. He was at the mercy of this belligerent anger, hating him for no real reason besides his skin color. It was a familiar feeling of helplessness, felt through generations of oppression. But it was nowhere near familiar to him.

"I won't ask again!"He yelled pressing the gun to the top of Levi's head.

Levi felt himself start to tremble, internally fighting his anger and humiliation at being at the complete mercy of another man. It left a sinking feeling in his gut and made his mind buzz with irrational fury.

He wanted to just grab the gun and then shoot the boy down. It would be murder, he knew, but he didn't care, anything to make him stop standing over him.

He tensed and prepared to implement his plan when suddenly, the gun disappeared from his head and fell to his side and the sound of tumbling bodies reached his ears. He looked up in bewilderment to see his assaulter wrestling with a smaller boy, Elijah! He watched as the larger boy climbed up top and started to pound on his son.

Fury crept into his bones and he pulled out the revolver in his pocket and shot a warning above the boys head.

The young man stopped his beating and looked over to Levi with fear in his eyes akin to a frightened animal.

He stared right back and kept his gun aimed at him.

"Get off him!"He growled.

The young man slowly stood with his hands over his head, his wary gaze trained on Levi's gun.

"Don't let me see you again, now leave!"He yelled.

The man scrambled back before he turned and sprinted away into the dark as suddenly as he appeared.

With him gone, Levi released a breathe. He hastily turned his eyes to Elijah to see him struggling to stand.

Seeing him still alive was relieving but he felt a burst of frustration and anger towards the boy.

He stomped over to the boy and roughly hauled him up to his feet. Marching him over to the side of the house he slammed his against the wood and trapped him with an iron grip on his shoulders.

Elijah's face was covered in bruises and a bit of blood dripped from his lips and nose. Seeing this only made him angrier.

"What the hell was that?!"He questioned.

"I-I,I just wanted to-"

"To what? To get yourself killed? Well sorry to tell you it didn't work!"

"Dad I just-"

"SHUT UP!"He yelled. Elijah flinched back at the shout.

"Don't you ever pull this shit again, you hear me?"

His son trembled in his grip.

"I'm talkin to you boy!"He seethed.

He noticed his lip start to tremble and he dipped his head to hide his watering eyes.

"Boy I will give you something to really cry about if you don't answer me."He growled."Now do you hear me?"

Elijah nodded.

"Say it!"

Elijah straightened a bit before answering,"Yes sir."

His voice was choked by tears and the sound melted Levi's anger.

With a sigh he pulled his son in for a hug.

The boy latched onto him as if he was a lifeline.

"Alright alright. I'm sorry for snapping at you. But you can't do that again. Ever!"He stressed.

"He was gonna kill you dad,"Elijah whispered in a barely restrained sob.

Levi paused. He suddenly remembered how close he was to death, if his son didn't interfere, there was no doubt he would be dead.

The thought was strange, almost unheard of. Death was only one step away, no matter how safe you think you are, it was always there.

Snapping out of the thoughts of his own morality he pulled back from the crying boy.

"Nevertheless, you're to never do that again. If I have to die to save you, then don't ever stop that."

The youth seemed like he wanted to argue but he kept his head bowed and his lips shut.

"Elijah!"Joanna called.

She came stumbling out of the shelter with Louis limp in her arms.

When she came up to Levi she gave Louis up to him and smacked the beaten teen in his head.

"You dun lost your damn mind boy!"She hollered.

She captured him into a suffocating hug and cried.

"If you ever do that again imma kill you myself,"She wept.

He grabbed Joanna by her shoulder and turned her to face him.

"We gotta go, we lost too much time already,"He said.

She nodded and released her boy from her constricting hold before holding her arms out to take Louis back.

When she got him safely tucked into her arms she nodded her affirmative to go.

They left the backyard and started to run down the street.

Levi looked back to make sure they were all together and saw Elijah had stopped to stare at the beaten bloody corpse of Jacobs.

"Elijah!"He called.

The young teen remained rooted to the spot simply staring at the body, completely unseeing to the rest of the world.

Levi ran back and grabbed the boy by his shirt and pulled him along.

"That's Jacobs,"He heard Elijah whisper."Oh man that's Jacobs."

He didn't look back to see his son's face. He feared he'd see that haunted look in his eyes. The same damn look his daddy had when he had his nightmares. He wasn't ready to face that look again. Especially not with his own son.

They kept a steady pace as they ran down the sidewalk, staying out of the reach of the street lights and going as quietly as possible.

The more they traveled the more they heard sounds of guns and screaming.

Levi felt his stomach start to turn when he heard the pleas of a desperate mother beg for the life of her children when a gunshot silenced her cries.

Joanna, he noticed, tried to be strong but the more of the carnage she heard only seemed to further unhinge her.

And Elijah...he didn't even want to think how this was gonna affect him.

The only one not affected by this was Louis, who was still sleeping as soundly as ever in his mother's arms.

Levi lead them down a narrow street where hopefully they wouldn't have any trouble, but that came to a screeching halt when someone burst from their home in a frenzied run.

 _*BANG*_

The man was immediately shot down from behind and fell forward onto his chest.

Levi dragged Elijah and Joanna and pushed them down to hide behind a chipped white fence. And he fell on top of them to shield them both if they were both seen.

Levi watched as the wounded colored man tried to drag himself in a futile escape attempt. From the home a white man with a long red beard came out with a pistol in his hand and an ugly sneer on his face.

He walked over to the dying man and pointed his gun at his downed victim.

BANG

BANG

BANG

Three shots in the chest stopped the man's crawling as blood seeped from his wounds and stained his shirt.

"Filthy mutie,"the man spat.

Levi felt the acid in the words, and it left a sour taste in his mouth.

He heard Joanna whimper at the sight and he grabbed her hand and gave it a firm squeeze.

When the man walked back in the house the family hastily dashed past the broken home and it's former occupant.

Levi scraped together his knowledge of the neighborhood to find them the best possible method to get to baker street without being discovered.

They could go through the side streets with possibly no problem, but it would take too much time and the main roads were too dangerous themselves.

Levi's thoughts came to a sudden halt when he heard the screeching of tires.

He glanced behind him and his heart kicked into overdrive at seeing a gang of cars zooming down the road towards them.

He grabbed his wife and son by the arm and broke into a sprint.

As he ran he lost touch of the rest of the world and just gave into his basic instincts and ran like a madman with his family stumbling behind him.

He heard the men hooting and hollering as they gave chase.

They listened as the wolves in men's clothing shouted vulgar and disgusting threats to them. Painting images of torture and death. But something much worse for his wife.

Hearing it repeatedly made his stomach churn in revolt.

Levi took a left down a narrow road where their hunters temporarily lost sight of them. If they continued down this street they would come up to an abandoned factory where hopefully they would have a small chance for temporary asylum.

They ran under bar of the security booth and across the parking lot in a mad dash for the doors.

Getting closer they noticed that the all the doors and windows were barred with thick plates of wood. And suddenly their chances for survival were getting slimmer.

Levi relinquished his hold on his family and started looking around the building for a way inside.

"Dad!"Elijah alerted.

Levi could hear the car's engine getting closer and he started to feel his heart trying to burst out of his chest and his search became frantic and unfocused.

"Levi, over there!"Joanna called.

His head snapped to where she pointed and saw that one of the large boards blocking the windows was loose and close to falling off.

He immediately raced to the window and with all the strength he could muster he grabbed the board and pried it away from the window. The wood fell with a loud crash that probably didn't help their chances, but there wasn't time to worry about that.

"Come on!"He implored to his son.

Elijah stepped forward and with help from his father, was boosted into the window where he climbed into the rest of they way.

He took Louis from Joanna and she climbed into the window after her son.

Seeing that she made it in alright he had to hand her Louis before he started to climb in.

But he halted when the bright headlights of a car washed over him.

Feeling his heart leap he looked back to see the car that had chased them through the neighborhood was gaining on them once more.

"Levi come on!"Joanna urged.

He looked up at his wife and saw her face creased in fear and panic.

In a split second he made a decision that he knew in some way shape or form, he'd regret.

So with a resigned look he gave Joanna an encouraging smile.

"Get to Baker street. You'll find a road along the forest where John will be waiting for you."

Joanna's eyes widened at realizing what he was thinking.

"I'll meet you there, I promise."He said with little to no meaning behind his words.

"Levi no!"Joanna begged. The sight of her teary eyes made his heart crack, but he had to do it.

"I love you. Stay safe."He whispered. And before any more protests could be raised, he dropped to the ground and ran back to the street in the front of the car.

The car slowed to a halt in front of him and he had to squint his eyes at the blinding light from the car. What he could inside the windows was the bewildered looks of the men at his boldness.

He'd give them something to gawk at.

In a quick motion like the cowboys off old westerns he drew his gun and fired a shot through the windshield.

He didn't intend to hit anything, he was just doing this to get there attention.

It worked.

It seemed a whole in their windshield was enough to bolster their rage and thirst for blood again.

And he was off in a sprint with the car rapidly catching up to him.

He chanced a glance behind him and saw, to his relief, that nobody had exited the vehicle to check the factory where his family was hauled up.

Seeing his one worry all wrapped up, he focused all his effort on keeping himself out of the grasp of his pursuers.

He jumped onto the sidewalk and ran with all he could.

The car kept pace with him, tauntingly letting him know that he was not going to escape. But he wouldn't stop running, not when he had to get these men as far from his family as possible.

The window rolled down and a head popped. Levi saw that the young man had a river of blood flowing from his temple. Seems like he ended up clipping one of them.

The lad dragged his thumb across his throat and then yelled something at him that was blocked by the sound of his own blood pounding in his ears.

The car zoomed in front of him and cut off him off at the edge of the block. He ground to a halt and made a turn into someone's backyard.

The sound of slamming car doors made him aware that his pursuers were now chasing him by foot.

He looked forward and came to a screeching halt when he saw that his path was being blocked by a tall metal fence that would take too long to climb before his hunters would be able to grab and pull him back down.

He turned and the small group of boys had come charging in and surrounded him. But his gun pointed their way kept them in place.

He slowly looked at each of them and was disturbed with how they looked at him.

Their eyes were locked on him. Narrowed in a deep rooted irrational hatred, he could feel their killing intent through their gazes. They all panted and bared their teeth as they stood and glared at him like the young monsters they had become. Monsters that were starved of death and were ready to feast on the cornered animal they had chased down.

"Look now,"He began in a steady voice,"I don't want no trouble. Just turn around and walk away."

"Too late pal!"The one with the bleeding temple spat.

Pointing to his wound he sneered,"You asked for it."

"Yeah he did!"

Levi could tell they were starting to get antsy with just every second. He had to escape fast. But he needed time to figure out a plan.

"What do you want?"He asked.

The wounded one, the apparent leader of this mini lynch mob, laughed and stepped forward. Levi leveled his gun at him

"Right now. I wanna kill you."

His buddies laughed.

"I'm gonna take that gun,"He said using his hand to shape a gun."Stick it in your mouth,".

He pointed his 'weapon' at Levi.

"And i'm gonna blow your brains out."He snickered with the others joining in.

Levi wasn't put off by the threat but the looks of approval of the young men beside him upset his stomach.

"Why?"He questioned,"I never done nothing to you."

His inquiry seemed to rekindle their anger towards him.

"Besides clipping me in the freakin head!"Screamed the young man,"It's because of what you are. A filthy disgusting mutie."

Levi remained stoic.

"I'm not a mutant."

The lads all sneered in annoyance.

"Not the first time we heard that tonight."

Levi's eyes partially widened at the confession.

"You all think you're so clever. Hiding right in front of us,"the one on the right seethed.

"You freaks shouldn't even exist. All of you should do us a favor and die!"

He had heard words similar to those before. A long time ago. Only it was a different part of his race being cursed out.

"I'm not a mutant."He tried again.

"You freaks are dangerous. Nothin but trouble. We gotta kill you before you get us!"

"I'm not a mutant!"He screamed.

The youths were silenced by his shout before their leader laughed in a cruel and devious way that made levi uneasy.

"He's right. He's not a mutie."

Levi and the others looked at him in bewilderment for his sudden attitude change.

"No,no he's no mutie."

The smile left his face and was replaced with a look that could only be described as completely _**feral**_.

"He's a mutie nigger!"

The words struck him like a brick to the chest.

His heart squeezed and his stomach compressed in on itself.

That word. He had become acquainted with that word his entire life. It used to bother him a lot in his youth, made him think his existence meant nothing. That it only went as far as that word. Which was no where.

He learned to ignore it. Get passed it. It only shaped him if he let it. But it was different this time. The hatred he was used to was there all the same.

Yet it wasn't normal.

Their was something added onto it. A whole new type of feel was sprinkled in.

A brand new fresh feeling of anger and rage that added to the long chain of discrimination. It carried its own flavor to it. Instead of condescending, it was dipped in fear and from the fear manifested the helplessness which inevitably led to the hatred again.

A hatred spawned from the fear of uncertainty.

Coupled together with the hatred of centuries to make something new.

Something worse.

"Yeah,"The one on the left growled."Look at him. He's scared now, we know what he is. He can't hide now."

Levi licked his lips and tried to swallowed to get rid of the dryness in his throat.

"It's what you are isn't it?"Their leader said."You a mutie?! Huh? You a mutie nigger?!"

The other two started to advance on him while the heated youth continued to spit his venom at him.

Levi did his best to keep his weapon trained on whoever came to close but he was outnumbered and they were soon to jump on him if all he did was threaten. He had to act.

With a quick move he pointed and shot the belligerent youth in his shoulder.

The wounded young man fell to the ground with a pained scream and clutched at his bleeding shoulder.

The remaining boys stopped and stared shell shocked at their hurt friend.

He thought they would turn tail and run but they instead his action seemed to have bolstered their fury.

They turned to Levi and snarled in rage before lunging for him.

He tried to shoot another shot before one grabbed his arm and pushed it away causing the bullet to shoot harmlessly in another direction.

The second youth tackled into his midsection in hopes of bringing him down but Levi grit his teeth and held strong before picking the boy up by his shirt and slamming him down to the dirt.

The other boy had maneuvered onto his back and trying to choke him with his arms.

He was forced to drop his gun and wrap his fingers around the arms hoping to strangle him.

Levi bucked and struggled with the feral boy as his arms squeezed with all the muscle the youth could muster.

Levi felt himself start to get dizzy as his air supply was being impaired.

With a burst of adrenaline and anger he slowly pried the arms off his neck.

When the grip was loose enough and Levi took a massive jump and flipped the boy over his head and onto the ground.

The young man groaned and squirmed in pain.

Levi looked up to see the first boy was rushing him with a pocket knife in his hand.

Stumbling back, Levi barely dodged the first slash.

His attacker lunged forward in a stab but Levi jumped to the side.

The teen turned to him with a sneer on his face, no doubt annoyed with how hard it was to land a hit on him.

Reversing his grip on the weapon,the young predator ran forward in hopes of a downward stab.

Before the knife could even descend, Levi grabbed his wrist and held tight.

He continued to push forward however, in hopes of overpowering Levi.

But against a fully grown man, in terms of strength, a boy in his late teens didn't have a chance.

Levi curled his free hand and unleashed a quick punch to the boy's stomach and cheek before pushing the boy to the floor.

The late teen landed on his back with a grunt and rolled to his side cradling his cheek.

Before he compose himself he was jarred forward by a shove.

He stumbled a few steps before turning around and was met with a fist to the jaw.

Levi put his hands up in a rough boxing stance after the hit.

An enraged youth came swinging at him in a flurry of wide and sloppy hits.

But with Levi's past experience in street fights he was easily able to weave in between the wild and uncoordinated swings.

When the boy started to slow down, Levi saw his opportunity. When the boy pulled back from a swing, Levi gave a quick one two combo that disoriented the teen and finished with a strong uppercut to the bottom of his chin which snapped the boy's head up and knocked him to the dirt.

Levi felt his heart pound against his chest and his knees quivered as the adrenaline started to leave his system.

With a breath of relief and exhaustion he relaxed his stance and let his arms drop.

BANG

Levi screamed and stumbled forward.

His hand grasped at his left shoulder as it began to bleed heavily from the bullet that had grazed his flesh, but left a searing scratch in it's wake.

BANG

A second shot was fired and he hissed as the bullet grazed his leg causing him to fall in surprise and leaving behind a dull burning on his limb.

A final shot went off over his head as he fell to the dirt and he was saved from a bullet to the head.

Face pressed into the dirt, Levi coughed out the dust that had gotten into his mouth before slowly turning on his uninjured arm as he heard a loud swear from behind him.

He lifted his head and saw that the one he had shot had gotten back up and had utilized his dropped gun and had been the one to shoot him.

He watched helpless as the young man trudged over to him and stood over him menacingly.

"Now,"He growled,"We're even you sick freak!"

He gestured to his wounds,"You shot me twice,"then pointed to Levi,"I shot you twice. But you ducked before I could get you again."

He seethed at seeming to miss him.

"Your a persistent son of a bitch. You just won't let yourself be killed it seems like. And since that was apparently the last bullet that missed I can't shoot you."

Levi could only stare and listen as the man lamented at not being able to kill him.

"But…"He started.

The boy's gaze hardened as he looked down on Levi and raised the gun.

"...that doesn't mean I can't beat your black ass to death!"

And with that he started to repeatedly swing the gun down on Levi as if it was a club.

Levi could only feebly block the hits with his injured arm taking a majority of the damage. He grunted as he tried to fend off the attacks but he was caught off guard when a hit came down and smashed him right in the forehead.

His vision flashed in and out as his eyes fluttered and he fought to stay conscious.

More blows rained down on his head and torso that he couldn't defend against and was forced to just take the pain.

A swing to the head.

*SMACK*

A hit to the collar.

*CRACK*

A smash to his shoulder.

*BAM*

"Ahhh!"

His scream rang through the cruel silence.

The boy only smiled and laughed at his scream and continued his assault.

"This is what you get!"He screamed."You freaks shouldn't belong here!"

Levi could see the boy's sanity start to break and his madness overflowed the boy's mind like a broken dam.

"I'll kill all of you!"He screeched."EVERY MUTANT, EVERY NIGGER, ALL OF YOU! I"LL KILL ALL OF YOU!"

He halted his attack and stared Levi dead in the eyes.

"And that all starts with you."

The last thing Levi saw was the youth lifting the gun higher and smashing it onto his face before he was consumed by darkness.

 _X.x.X.x.X.x.X_

He was surrounded by shadows: floating in darkness.

Weightless, hearing and feeling nothing, Levi drifted in a void of silence. He found a peace he would never find anywhere on earth. Like the heartbeat of a child in the womb, everything was slow and steady. He was unaware of anything, completely swallowed by this dark and quiet slumber.

It wasn't until he started to stir in his sleep that he started to notice things.

Like the horrible ache over his head.

His brow scrunched and his breathing hitched.

Slowly he felt the sensation start to travel downward and he was made aware of the rest of his body.

He wiggled fingers and felt them scratch into something gritty and dusty.

'Dirt?' He questioned.

Slowly his eyes opened up and he was greeted with the night sky. Clear of clouds and stars.

Levi realized he was laying on the ground. What he was wondering was how this happened. The last thing he could remember was…

Levi gasped and sat up and was rewarded by a vicious wave of nausea and lightheadedness.

He messaged his temples to reduce the headache.

His thoughts bounced in his head and he tried to understand what had transpired.

He was being chased by a group of young boys he remembered. They cornered him but he was able to hold them off for a time. But one of them got a hold of his gun and had shot him, which explained the painful wounds on over his body.

And he also remembered the same boy beating him with the gun when he ran out of bullets. And that explained the rest of the pain along his torso and head.

He shuddered at the memory. The look in the boy's eyes. The sound of his crazed voiced as he bludgeoned him with the gun. The boy had been lost at that moment, taken over by a malicious hatred that wasn't his. A hatred that was taught. Adopted and nurtured. He honestly couldn't entirely blame the lad for it. He didn't have a choice in it.

Since he and his companions seemed to be gone, the lad must of assumed that Levi had died during his feral assault. It's a good thing he didn't bother to check.

With a grunt of exertion, Levi used his good arm and pushed himself to his feet. He wobbled and sucked in a breathe at the pain he felt in his shoulder. It burned like fire and he almost fell to the ground again in shock of the sudden flashes of pain. The stinging in his leg didn't help either.

But he pressed his free hand against the wound and plugged the blood flow and moved onward taking a few tentative steps to make sure he could walk properly before making his way out of the yard.

He could see the light of a burning fire blazing in the distance and black smoke started to pervade the air. And the sound of screams was more pronounced than the last time he heard them.

He had no time to reflect on this however as he remembered with a sudden spark that Joanna and the boys might be in this unhindered violence if he didn't do as he promised and get to Baker street where hopefully John would be.

Before Levi could think about the best way to get too his destination he was momentarily blinded by a bright light.

Blinking owlishly he turned to his right and saw an old chevy malibu pull up and stop in front of him.

The door opened and a colored man bout the same age as him, maybe a little older, stuck his head as close to the opening as possible to look at him.

For a few awkward moments they just stared at one another.

The stranger raised an eyebrow at him and broke the silence,"You need a ride?"

The words literally were in one ear and out the other.

"What?"

The man's brow somehow raised higher.

"I said do you need a ride?"

The words barely registered when he heard them and he was forced to repeat the question.

"What?"

The man sighed in exasperation and he heard him mutter,"I don't have time for this."

With an irritated sneer he said through grit teeth,"Listen, I ain't gonna ask this again. I ain't tryna get caught by no crazy white folk. Are you gonna get your beaten and bloody black ass in this car or not?"

The tone is what snapped Levi out of his stupor. It honestly couldn't have been this easy after how this whole night was going could it?

"Yeah, I could use a lift."He said mindlessly.

"Then get in!"

Levi got in as quickly as his injured body could allow him.

As soon as he shut the door, the man was immediately driving again.

His temporary companion cast side glances at him as Levi continued to cradle his injured shoulder.

"Damn,"He swore."They got you good. I'm surprised that you still alive. How you manage that?"

Levi shrugged his unhurt shoulder.

"They thought I was dead, but I was just knocked out. They either didn't check or didn't do it right."

The man laughed at that.

"You must got you a guardian angel or something."

Levi remained silent until he noticed the direction they were going. It was the opposite way of where he needed to be!

"Wait!"Levi suddenly said."I need to get to Baker street."

The man sent him an incredulous look.

"Maybe you got hit too hard. Ain't no way we gonna get to Baker without running into a few crowds of rioters."

Levi turned to him and sent him a pleading look.

"Please, you wanna make it out of this don't you?"

The man sen't him a suspicious glare.

"And how would going to Baker do that?"

"Because,"Levi explained,"There's old trail through the woods off baker street."

"So?"He snorted.

"It's the only way to get out of here."

The man's head whipped over to him in a flash.

"What do you mean?"He asked cautiously.

Levi braced himself for this next part.

"The police have the entire ghetto blocked and aren't letting anybody out of the area."

The car screeched to a halt.

The man faced Levi fully and stared at him with wide unbelieving eyes.

"How the hell do you know that?"

"Because,"He explained,"I got a buddy who was coming to get me and my family out. He said the police set up a barricade around the area. And he was very clear on saying their not letting anybody out or in."

The man stared at Levi for a few more seconds before slumping in his seat and running his hand down his face.

"Baker street is the only hope we have left,"He continued."I don't wanna go that way either but it's the only option."

He just stared forward with an angry haggard expression and tapped the wheel before asking,"Where your family?"

"I'm hoping they made it to Baker in one piece,"

He nodded his head solemnly.

They stayed silent for a while and Levi was about to insist again when suddenly the man started the car and flipped it around to start driving in the opposite direction.

Levi released a breath in relief.

"Thank you,"He said.

The man didn't respond.

The drive was long and silent. Not a word was said, and they both just relaxed in this temporary lapse in violence.

Levi reached into his pocket with his good arm and pulled out the walkie talkie he had been using to communicate with John but recoiled when he noticed the antennae was horribly bent and crooked.

He tried using it but was rewarded with a sharp chirp that left his ears ringing in pain.

"Damn it!"His driver swore in surprise. He turned to Levi with a glare.

"If you turn that thing on one more time i'm chuckin it outta the window!"

Levi nodded absently,"Sorry."

The man sighed in exasperation and was silent again before speaking.

"You ever wonder how you're gonna die?"He inquired.

Levi turned at the sudden question.

"No."

He shrugged.

"I do. All the time. I always try to think that it's gonna be when i'm sleepin. I'm just gonna slip right out of my body and just disappear."

He let out a mirthless chuckle,"I never thought it'd be like this. Death by crazy white folk. I can fight some, but I can't fight a whole crowd at once."

Shaking his head he spoke through grit teeth.

"I ain't gonna make it easy for em though. I ain't gonna curl up like a little bitch and take it! Damn that! They gonna have to work for it they wanna kill me!"

Levi sat and listened as the man vented his anger. As the minutes dragged on and the man just continued to rant about his will to live and that anybody who tried anything would go down with him no matter the cost. It became mundane when the man started to belabor his point and just repeated the same sentence over and over again,'I won't go down! I won't go down!'.

At this point, Levi honestly wondered who he was trying to convince;him or his self.

Levi stared straight and shifted in his seat when he saw a small glow in the road ahead that was growing steadily as they got closer.

He sat forward and squinted to get a better look at their approaching obstacle.

"Oh great,"The man griped,"The heck is this?"

The answer came in an unexpected way. Levi took a cautious sniff when he smelled something strange.

"You smell that?"Levi asked.

His companion took a few test whiffs before grunting in confusion.

"The hell? Smells like a damn cookout."

It smelled like cooked pork and beef, like someone was frying meats in their backyard. But who would wanna be cooking outside at night? Tonight of all nights?

The closer they got to the light, the stronger it became.

"Ugh!"His diver cried while pulling his shirt over his nose.

Levi's eyes stung in looking at the bright ball of light in front of them and his driver looked even more aggravated at its piercing light.

The car screeched to a halt when they were ten feet away from it and both passengers gaped in outright shock and horror.

In front of them was a big burning pillar of fire, but inside the flames, stacked atop one another was a pile of burning bodies. Each having its flesh eaten away at by the ravenous inferno they were trapped inside of.

Levi sat straight up and stared at the atrocity in front of him.

He took in the image in for all it's worth. Memorizing the last few faces that were still recognizable, their faces blank and uncaring to their fiery imprisonment.

Men, women, children, all of them. Nobody was spared.

And it was as this moment, staring at this act of pure cruelty that Levi realised something.

"Were not running from people. Not anymore."

And from the shadow of the fire's light out stepped a figure.

And to its left another appeared, and another, and another. All around the blaze, the shadows seemed to manifest and become a living nightmare.

The mob stood still as statues, they're eyes burning in an unholy glow, their silhouetted forms hiding their faces, but still showing who they truly were.

Levi was frozen in his seat, his heart pounding to escape his chest as adrenaline started to race through his body once more.

As he looked at the dark entities in front of him he sent a said a silent prayer in his head and glanced to his driver.

The man sat stock straight, trembling in his seat.

His face twisted between a rage and fear; helplessness.

His teeth ground against one another and his hands tightened against the leather of the wheel. The longer he stared at the burning pile of corpses the angrier he felt. Like an erupting volcano he could feel his wrath build in him. It made him stronger but foolish in his actions. So with his vision hazed in red, his face flushed in rage, he pulled the car out park and _slammed_ the gas.

The car lurched and sped forward.

The movement spurred the mob, and as one they let loose a blood chilling shriek and ran forward to meet the car half way.

Levi could only watch as the people charged forward completely unafraid of the speeding hunk of metal heading right for him.

As they got closer, the headlights illuminated their faces and Levi was able to see their faces marred by an inhuman bloodlust. Like beasts of insanity.

But his trance was interrupted when he felt the first impact and was soon followed by numerous others.

Those that weren't immediately run over or battered aside clung to the car and pounded away at the glass.

Levi lost his senses in all that was happening around him. The monsters were growling and snarling at him while they attempted to break the glass and dig their claws into him. And his companion was doing the same while swerving the car down the road to dislodge the stubborn animals.

The smashing of glass to his left drew his attention.

One of them had managed to break the window on the driver's side and was clawing away at his companion's face with bloody fingers.

This next part, Levi would never forget.

The man's eyes reflected the same demented light of the attacking creatures before, in a disgusting and horrifying action, he opened his mouth as wide as humanly possible and bit down on the attacking appendage.

A pained shriek was heard from the violent beast as the man bit deeper and mauled the hand with the fever of a starved wolf.

Levi felt bile jump into his throat and start to climb it's way onto his tongue when he saw blood start to soak the man's teeth from the wounds he created.

The hand attempted to retreat but it's captor pulled back for every yank that it attempted. And with a final shake of his head, the man spit the heavily bleeding hand out and it left out the window.

Levi felt his fear pound as he stared at his driver, the man was now no more a monster than the ones attached to the car.

With fresh blood around his snarling and slobbering maw, his eyes alight with primal fear. At that moment, Levi felt more fearful of the beast inside the car with him rather than outside.

He had fallen victim to hatred, and it had left him less than a man.

And as more hands started crack and shatter the glass around them, he saw the man's grip on the wheel tighten and he cock his shoulders to one side. He saw what was coming next a mile away.

'Ah shit..'he lamented.

With a harsh turn of the wheel the car was spinning with a screech from the tires.

Seeing them approaching a street light, Levi braced himself for the crash.

With a wince Levi smashed his head into the glass as the side of the car impacted and crunched against the metal pole.

Black dots swam in Levi's vision as his eyes lost focus and clarity. He was barely able to perceive the sound of a car door opening and closing. Then came the screaming.

Blinking his suddenly heavy eyelids, Levi lifted his head and felt a warm sensation dripping down his forehead. He was bleeding from the head, plus with the wound to his shoulder he couldn't afford to remove his hand and cover the area.

So he could only close his right eye as the blood dripped down his face.

Using his elbow he pulled the lever to open his door and pushed it open just enough so he could slowly climb out of the wrecked car.

Stumbling onto the sidewalk Levi looked around in a daze to figure out where they had crashed.

A piercing scream cut the air and he turned to see his companion with his fingers tightly wrapped around the throat of one of their attackers. The unfortunate victim kicked and struggled against the vice like grip.

Focusing his vision, Levi was shocked to find out that his driver was strangling a woman.

"Hey,"He called out."Hey, stop!"

He trudged over as fast as he could and placed his bloodied hand on the man's shoulder to try to pull him off.

But he was immediately blindsided when the man let go and smashed a quick haymaker to Levi's cheek that had him crumble to the ground.

Levi looked up again and saw him go back to choking the woman.

He could do nothing but lay and listen to the woman let out coughs and whimpers to breathe. Overtime he saw the woman's legs slow to a stop and her choked breathe quiet. Levi's stared shocked at the act of cruelty he had witnessed. And he was suddenly overcome with a terrible guilt.

He had just watched a man choke a woman to death. And he couldn't do a thing to stop it.

He was brought out of his shock when he saw the man stepped in front of him. He looked up to see the man's cold eyes drilling into him. That, added with the blood stained around his lips, it made his appearance all the more frightening.

"You defend these killers?"He sneered.

He spat a combination of blood and saliva in his face.

"You ain't no better than them. I hope they find and finish your ass so you can see they was never on your side."

With that, the man left and ran away into the night.

Using his good arm he wiped away the saliva off his face and watched the man dash away from him. And once more, he was alone.

Levi pushed himself onto his knees and let himself rest for a brief second before he pushed himself to stand. With not a glance to the dead woman just to his left, he walked away.

His pace was slow and tedious, the adrenaline that fueled him had passed and he was left with his fatigue and pain. Each step was heavier than the last as his limbs started to burn in protest to his movements, and the wound to his head continued to flow rivers down his head.

'Damn it!'He thought when a wave of dizziness caused him to stop and lean against a fence for support.

He heaved in breathes as his eyesight refused to fix itself.

In his momentary pause he allowed his mind to wander and his thoughts to dance in his head.

'I don't think i'm gonna make it,'he thought.'I have no idea where I am, and I don't know how much longer I can stay awake.'

Levi shook his head as the dizziness worsened and he felt himself almost collapse.

'Please Lord,'He begged,'Let my family have made it out safely.'

And with that last thought, Levi fell to the ground.

X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X

John sat in his car, lightly tapping away at the wheel. He'd arrived at Baker street a while ago in front of the dirt road leading to the forest, and had just been waiting for Levi and the rest to show up. He tried to contact him but he hadn't heard anything back yet.

It had been almost half an hour since he had last heard from Levi.

And he had been trying to reach him for the last ten of those minutes. This wasn't a good sign. If he didn't get in touch with Levi soon, he'd have to break his promise and come looking for him.

And oh wouldn't Lisa give him an earful later if she found out he did that.

So Levi better get here soon so he doesn't have to go through that. If he does, he's taking Levi down with him.

He laughed at that.

As he sat and listened to the silence he contemplated the situation they were in. The more he thought about it, the less he could actually believe it was true.

People were always afraid of what they didn't understand. And that drove them to fight against it, just because they were too afraid to try to embrace it. People didn't like it when their little worlds are shaken and taken off it's foundations. Put an unknown variable into the equation and it messes up everything people knew. The change was something that nobody liked. And that change came two years ago.

Mutants.

The world was shocked something fierce when they suddenly showed up.

Everywhere, all anybody could talk about was this shocking phenomenon.

Everyone who tuned in too watch the Paris Peace Accords were dumbfounded when they were met with a world changing secret that destroyed everything they thought they knew.

First came the revelation, then came the fear.

An entire race of people had been hiding right in front of them. And nobody even knew. Coupled with the fact that they somehow had the potential for dangerous abilities that made some of them virtually invincible.

Oh yes, the foundations had definitely been shaken.

Nobody really knew how to react at first, the info hadn't really sunken in, but when it had, the protests began. People ranting and screaming, accusing one another of being a mutants; it was the new salem witch hunt.

Anybody even suspected of being a mutant was being arrested and taken into questioning. Some people even being put into prison.

Honestly, he wasn't all that surprised of what was happening, it was bound to happen eventually. All the tension and frustration over the past two years had to be vented out somehow, a scapegoat was needed for this anger.

And what better way to release anger then to turn it on each other.

John jumped when he saw shapes in the distance approaching his car.

He quickly reached behind his seat and pulled his pistol into his hand.

Eyeing the approaching figures wearily he noticed their stumbling steps and arduous pace. He slowly opened his door and stepped out.

He watched them get a little closer before stepping in front of their path and calling out,"Stop right there!"

They instantly froze.

The one to the left instantly was rigid and tense, he looked ready to run at a moment's notice. The one on the right, who appeared to be carrying something, mimicked the others pose but was slightly more relaxed, possibly due to exhaustion. But he was surprised when the one called out to him.

"John?"It said, as weary and haggard as they stood.

The voice was familiar and his eyes widened in recognition.

"Joanna?"He asked.

The person stepped forward and John was relieved to see Joanna,haggard and half asleep, with little Louis in her arms. And next to her, a slightly bruised Elijah stood tense and shaky. But his breath caught when he noticed that Levi wasn't with them.

He jogged up to them and gave them all a once over. They looked terrible.

"Thank God you're alright,"He said.

"For the most part."She responded.

Looking around he asked them,"Where's Levi?"

Joanna and Elijah seemed to deflate at the question. And he felt fear constrict his breathing.

He gripped her shoulder and looked into her eyes,"Joanna, where is he?"

She shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut.

John felt like he'd been socked in the gut with a brick. It couldn't be...not Levi.

"Joanna…"He whispered in fear,"Is he dead?"

Her breath hitched and he felt his fears start to overtake him but it came to a halt when she choked out,"I don't know."

His eyes widened and he grasped onto the thin thread of hope.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

She tried to compose herself before she spoke,"We was cornered, and Levi he...he used himself as bait to draw the ones chasing us away,"

In other words he did the most cliche thing in that situation. Why was he not surprised, oh yeah, it's Levi.

"So you don't know where he is?"He implored. She shook her head.

He felt a resolve burn in his gut, and with hardly a second thought he made his choice.

"Ok,"He spoke,"Listen to me, my car is back up the road,the door is unlocked and the keys are on the dash, I want you to get in and drive up the path,"Joanna started to shake her head in between his orders,"No no, listen to me, get in the car and drive it until you're safe enough from the violence,".

Her lower lip started to tremble and her eyes were once more starting to fill with tears.

"You're doing the same thing Levi did before he left."She cried."Telling me to get away while I gotta worry about you."

"I'm sorry, I know it's not fair to you, but I gotta find Levi. I'll never live with myself if I found out he was alive and I didn't try to get him."

Joanna looked like she wanted to argue with him but she seemed too tired and so she relented with a shake of her head.

"You a good man John,"She smiled."I'm glad Levi has a friend like you. You done more for us in this night then anybody in our whole lives. Thank you."

He gave her a warm smile and stretched out his hand to give her his pistol.

She looked shocked.

"Just in case. I think you'd need this more than I do. Levi's probably gonna skin me for leaving you alone anyway, don't need being anymore angry by saying I left you unarmed."

Reluctantly, with one arm cradling Louis, she took the gun and tucked it securely in her grip.

"What about you?"She inquired.

He shrugged,"I should be ok. People will probably think I'm just another rioter so I won't be bothered by anyone."

"Unless you run into a group of angry black folk who'll probably want a crack at an unarmed white man,"She deadpanned.

John thought about that and he was slightly floored by this,that was a possibility he forgot to prepare for, but his resolve didn't waiver.

"It's a risk i'm willing to take."

She shook her head at him and sighed.

"Ok,"She looked him deeply in the eyes,"Be careful John, I'm just gonna drive a little ways over the hill. I'll wait for you as long as I can."

He nodded.

"Alright, I'll be back soon, hopefully with Levi."

He turned and ran into the burning neighborhood.

X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X

When Levi regained consciousness, he was aware of two things.

One, he had no idea how long he had been unconscious.

And two, he was in pain. A lot of pain.

It hurt to move, it hurt to breath, it hurt to just be conscious. He couldn't open his eyes, the blood from the wound on his head had dried and started to crust, all he could see was darkness. So for a time all he could do was listen.

It was eerily silent. Like a suffocating fog, it trapped him. The silence deafened his ears. Something about it made him nervous. He so desperately wanted to open his eyes.

But he was torn from his inner lamentations when he heard the sounds of pounding feet on a pavement.

His heart leapt in his chest and he froze and quit his breathing.

He laid completely still as the footfalls came closer and closer and he heard the runner whisper an ugly swear.

They stopped in front of him and he heard them crouch next to his prone form.

His heart started to pound painfully the longer he held his breathe and his lungs burned. Just go already.

The voice swore again and started to shake him.

"Levi! Levi come on wake up!"

The voice made his pause.

"John?"He croaked.

The person sighed in relief.

"Yeah, it's me buddy, I got ya."

He felt John's hands rub across his eyes and he felt some of the blood being wiped anyway. With the blood gone he slowly opened his eyes and blinked to clear his vision.

He looked up to see the blurred shadowed face of John looking down on him with concern and relief.

He felt John slip his hands under his arms and start to hoist him up.

"Careful careful,"He winced.

John stopped and looked him over again.

"Is anything broken?"John asked.

Levi shook his head but stopped when he felt the world start to spin.

"It looks worse then it is. Nothing's broken, maybe a few sprains or bruises but I can power through that."John nodded his affirmative.

"Ok, tell me when you need me to stop."

Then with careful slowness, John slipped Levi's arm around his shoulders and slowly started to stand up again.

With John's help Levi was able to get his feet under him again. And slowly they started to trudge along.

"Aw man, you look terrible,"John winced when the streetlights illuminated his beaten form.

Levi snickered and joked,"You should see the other guys,".

John laughed at the joke.

"You made them work for it then?"

"Oh you betcha!"

"They'll think twice next time?"

"They'll think three times!"

And they both dissolved into quiet chuckles.

When the moment of joking ended they were both silent again, and just focused on slowly getting out of this living nightmare.

But Levi immediately remembered something.

"John,"He gasped,"Did you find Joanna?"

"Don't worry, they're safe,"He assured."I was able to get them out before coming back for you."

Levi deflated in relief and exhaustion.

"Whoa!"John shouted with the sudden weight Levi put on him."Levi, are you alright?!"

Levi smiled."I'm good John. I'm just glad to hear that they're ok. I can finally relax a little."

"Well not too much,"He warned with a pensive look on his face,"We still gotta get outta here ourselves."

"That reminds me, didn't I tell you not to come looking for me?"

John smirked,"Oh you did, you were pretty adamant about it too. But we both knew that the chances of me listening to that were nonexistent."

Levi shook his head with a good natured smile.

"Of course, I should've known better."

"Yeah, I thought you knew me better than th-"

 **BANG**

They jumped at the gunshot in the distance.

"Alright, talks over,"John sternly ordered,"We gotta go."

And with renewed urgency John and Levi trudged along the sidewalks faster.

It was around twenty minutes later that Levi asked to take a break.

But John was insistent that they kept going. And so the long trudge continued.

Miraculously, they ran into little resistance as they went as fast as he could to reach Baker street. The worse they got was when a group of people ran past them from the other end of a street shouting unintelligible curses and threats.

A whole half an hour later, Levi asked John to rest again.

"We can't rest yet buddy,"He apologized while getting a better grip on the the arm around his shoulders,"We're almost there I promise, just a few more blocks. Just remember that your family is still waiting for you. We can't afford to stop and rest yet alright?"

Levi nodded slowly.

"Good. You know, I forgot to mention that we spruced up the guest bedrooms, you're in for a real surprise when you get to my house."  
"Yeah?"Levi said drowsily.

"Oh yeah, wait til you see it,"John said trying to keep Levi awake."Nice new curtains, new sheets, fancy carpet, I even painted it myself. It's a nice blue color, like the ocean kinda. And we finally got a decent sized bed in their. You're gonna love it!"

"It sounds nice."He mumbled.

"Of course it's nice! I decorated it myself,"John said in mock pride.

"Oh really,"Levi laughed,"So Lisa didn't help you in anyway?"

John shook his head.

"Nope! All me."

"Well, I'll just have to ask her myself."Levi said.

John looked a little scared at that idea."Uh, no need. She'll just tell you the same thing, so just trust me on this,".

"Oh I trust you. I just want to hear her opinion on YOUR work. After all, YOU did the good job, I just wanna hear what she has to say about YOUR work."Levi teased.

John laughed nervously.

"I'm sure she'll have something very interesting to tell me,"Levi continued.

"I bet,"John grumbled with a queasy look on his face.

But John's uneasy expression dropped and was replaced with one of happiness and relief when he saw the familiar road ahead of them.

"We did it Levi, we made it!"

Levi smiled and picked up his pace a little and John fell into step with him.

"Joanna said she'd be parked up in the woods just a little ways ahead."John explained as they began the ascent up the hill.

"Once we get up this hill it's just a matter of driving the rest of the way until we're home free."

"That's good,"Levi whispered.

When they made it up the hill the path flattened out and just a few meters in front of them was John's chevy.

When they got close enough, they could see Joanna sitting in the driver's seat.

Levi stopped and lifted his arm off John's shoulder.

He wobbled a little before John caught him by his shirt and steadied him on his feet.

"John, I think you should lay back for a bit, if I know Joanna, she's probably gonna need to yell at me before anything else."Levi said.

John held his hands up and took a few steps back,"I know how that goes, you don't need to tell me twice."

Levi nodded his thanks and started to shuffle toward the car.

Getting close enough he ran his hand along the roof and when he reached the door on the drivers side and ducked his head to cast a small disarming smile through the window.

The smile fell away and his heart stopped cold.

Before he could react, the door flew open and smacked him right in the face. He was once again introduced to the ground.

"Levi-gah!"He heard John scream.

In a daze, Levi saw two men subduing John and pushing his face into the dirt.

Looking back up Levi saw the sneering face of a man looking down at him like one would look at a worm.

He turned to look at the other two.

"You guys got that one!"He shouted.

"Yeah we got him."

"Son of a bitch ain't going anywhere!"

Levi heard the sound of them dragging a struggling John over to there position. The man looked back down at him with a glare.

"On your feet!"He commanded while heaving Levi up.

He was marched to the front of the car and dropped to his knees.

And John, still subdued, was placed to his left.

The one in charge walked in front of them and eyed them both with disdain and disgust.

John met his look with a glare of his own. He could taste the blood on his lips from when one of the two goons holding him got in a swift punch so they could take him down. But he wasn't afraid of these low-lives.

He cast a look to Levi and saw him just staring straight ahead, as if through the man with a confused look on his face.

"You both thought you were so clever huh?"The man asked them."Thought you'd sneak away and wouldn't be noticed by anyone."

John stared back defiantly.

"I guess you weren't as careful as you thought. You're not going anywhere tonight. We still got work to finish, and I think you know what I mean by that,"He growled.

"No actually we don't."John said.

He was met with a boot to the stomach.

"Ah!"He screamed in pain.

He doubled over and started hacking and coughing.

"You can shut your goddamn mouth!"He seethed,"You got what's coming to ya as much as the rest of them do. Ain't nothin worse then a traitor, a sympathizer for those damned freaks!"

"A sympathizer?"John wheezed."I'm a sympathizer for not wanting the death of innocent people? Ok then, I guess i'm a sympathizer."

He received another kick.

"Shut up I said!"He roared.

"Where are they?"Levi asked.

The man turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

"So he can speak,"He mocked.

"Where's my family, the woman and two boys, where are they?"

The man chuckled.

"Worried about the others huh? I figured you'd ask about that sooner or later. Bring em out boys!"He called.

Out from the forested area came four more men.

Two were restraining Joanna by her arms while the others two held onto Elijah and a still sleeping Louis.

Levi zeroed in on his wife's face.

She had been crying again, she looked so tired and frustrated that he knew that if she were to sleep again, she wouldn't be awoken for a long time.

And as she looked at him, he could tell she was barely keeping herself together as she beheld his beaten and bloodied image.

He remembered her fears about him being hurt and killed by the rioters and he realized that her fears were starting to come true.

"Yeah,"The man smirked,"They didn't really make it too far before we got to em. It's actually kinda funny. They thought they were in the clear but little did they know we were tailing them for about an hour."

He cast his eyes to John.

"We heard the little plan you two came up with and waited for you to leave before grabbing em. And it was just another waiting game for you to bring yourselves to us."

John's eyes widened when he heard about how most of this was his own fault. He'd lead them right into the jaws of their hunters. They were gonna die because of him.

"Let them go,"Levi ordered.

He turned back to Levi.

"Let my family go! They did nothing to you, let em leave!"

He looked Levi up and down.

"No."

Levi grit his teeth.

"I don't care what you do to me, but just let them leave!"

"Levi no!"Joanna called only to whimper when the men held her tighter.

"Quiet!"

"Hey!"Levi yelled. He prepared to stand.

"Ah ah,"The man said as he brandished John's pistol and pointed it straight at him.

Levi glared back passionately while slowly sitting back down.

"Ya see, I think you folk don't really understand what this night's supposed to be about."The man said.

"This here, this is nothing but a first step. A baby step I'd say. Just the beginning of what has to happen. We have to make sure that this country is safe, and well, that can't happen as long as we got this little problem."

He pointed at Levi.

"You."

He pointed to Joanna.

"You."

He pointed to Elijah.

"You."

Then gestured to Louis.

"And him."

Turning back to Levi he finished.

"Mutants."He spit.

Levi grit his teeth and hissed,"We're not mutants!"

The man laughed at this.

"Ya see, I can't be inclined to believe you. Sure, I might have considered it but I learned something really important about your kind. You can hide in plain sight. You know how to blend in, nobody even knew you existed until you outright revealed yourselves two years ago. Bad decision on your part I must say."

At the moment, Levi felt like he couldn't argue with that.

"But you're all so used to hiding so it's hard to tell who's who. So we got not choice but to do a little trial and error. And while there might be a few accidents here and there well…"He shrugged,"Better safe than sorry."

His eyes suddenly turned colder as he looked down at Levi.

"Now to get rid of the biggest problem in the immediate area."

He took the safety off the gun and leveled it at Levi's forehead.

He heard Joanna screaming and crying and Elijah started to join her soon after.

Levi felt his heart pound as his breathing increased. He felt death start to whisper into his ears.

You will be mine, it said. Over and over again.

And a chill crept down his spine teasingly.

He could see the man start to finger the trigger and prepare to fire.

Levi felt his eyes start to sting with his fearful tears as he realized his own mortality, he was going to die.

And with that thought the man pulled the trigger.

 **BANG**

And a body hit the ground while Levi looked in horror.

John lay on his back, a bullet hole on the side of his head, and his last moments of fear still etched on his face.

"Nothing worse than a damn sympathizer,"Sneered his killer.

Levi's eyes widened to and his mouth dropped in shock. His body was frozen as he looked down on John's corpse. The longer he looked, the longer it took for him to actually believe it.

John...his best friend...he was...he's been…

He couldn't understand any of this.

He felt tears sting his eyes once more, this time, his tears were of grief for his friend.

"Now that that's outta the way, let's deal with the rest of you."

The man tapped at his chin as if he had been placed into a difficult dilemma.

"But who next I wonder."

He looked at Levi."Hm, I'll let you decide."

Levi slowly turned back to him and stared at him through his tear stained vision. He soon felt the tip of the gun placed against his head.

"Tell me when,"He instructed.

He backed off and pointed the gun at Joanna who recoiled in fear.

Levi suddenly felt a burst in his chest as he saw the man threaten his wife

and the feeling burned his chest and turned his vision red.

He made to lung and wrap his hands around the man's neck when he was restrained by the men who were previously holding John.

He fought and struggled as the two encircled their arms around his and own.

"I guess we got a winner."The murder said with a sick grin.

Levi felt every breath he took ignite his chest further and it strengthened him to start to drag his holders.

"Damn it! This one's strong!"The one on his right swore.

"Davy!"The left one called to the one holding Louis."Get over here and help us!"

"But what about this one?"He asked gesturing to Louis's prone form.

"Just put em down! He's a little one and he's knocked out anyway now get over here!"

"Alright alright, calm down."He grumbled while setting down Louis.

And with the help of the third man they were able to restrain Levi enough to keep him in place.

"Now that's better,"The man said as he looked into Levi's burning eyes."Now if we can go about this uninterrupted."

And with a casual turn he lifted the gun to Joanna's head again and Levi felt his breath catch.

"NO!"That shout was not his own.

Nobody had seen Elijah struggle and rip himself away from his capture before charging and ramming into the man causing him to stumble a few steps.

"You little-!"He swore.

But Elijah was upon him again, slamming his fists on the older man wherever he could.

"Elijah!"Joanna called.

"Elijah run into the forest!"Levi called after her.

But the poor boy was too blinded in his rage to hear his parents callings.

And it was his biggest mistake.

With a well placed hit from the pistol to the cheek, the boy was felled cradling his face.

He looked up to see the gun pointed now at him. And it was the last things he saw.

 **BANG**

Joanna howled in despair when she saw Elijah slump to the ground with a bullet wound on his forehead, blood slowly seeping from his head.

At that moment Levi felt something inside him snap.

With a roar of fury, Levi yanked his arms free and made a beeline for his son's killer.

The man turned the weapon to him but Levi was too late to shoot when Levi was already on him.

He grabbed the man's wrist in a death grip and pointed it too the sky so he couldn't shoot at him. And with his other hand he reeled back and unleashed a powerful haymaker to the man's brow.

The murderer stumbled back with a grunt of pain and Levi continued the assault until the man had fallen onto his back.

Levi felt a pair of hands on his back try to pull him off but he threw and his elbow back and hit someone in their nose causing the cartilage to break and have the man fall back holding his gushing nose.

Another pair of hands tried to grip him but, in his fury he wildly swung a backfist and smashed it across another's face causing him to let go and fall to the ground barely conscious.

The last man eyed Levi like a wild beast looking for a reason to attack.

And Levi met his weary gaze with the look of the beast that he wanted.

He didn't dare attempt anything.

Satisfied that he wouldn't be bothered again, Levi turned back to the man beneath him. One eye was swollen shut and the man punched Levi with his free hand but either it was his weaker hand or Levi was too mad to feel anything.

Regardless he continued his attack on the man raining blow after blow onto him, further damaging his face.

"You son of a bitch! You killed John!"

He smashed his fist across his jaw.

"YOU KILLED MY SON!"He bellowed with tears on his cheeks.

His nose was soon bloodied and broken.

"I'll make you pay for that you bastard!"

He grabbed the man by his hair and slammed his head against the dirt a few times.

"I'LL KILL YOU MYSELF!"

"STOP!"

Levi turned to the one who dare interrupt his vengeance, and his heart stopped.

One of the few remaining men held a sharp pocket knife to Joanna's throat threateningly.

"That's right,"Growled he man."Get off him, slowly."He said while holding the knife closer to his wife's throat.

He met looked at Joanna, her tear stained face and sorrowful expression causing the rage inside him to slowly flicker fizzle out.

And he was faced with the worst reality possible. His son was dead. He had failed at his job as a father.

His heart lurched with a horrible pain.

In a trance-like state he stepped away from the beaten man.

"Now, sit down."

Levi let his legs give out and fall to his knees.

He was only barely aware of somebody standing next to him before he felt the feeling of a pistol being smacked into his head and he was with the ground once again.

The pain barely registered, so did the boot to his ribs, his arms, and his chest. He thought he heard something crack but he couldn't be sure, and he didn't really care.

A pair of legs stood in front of him and he looked up as best as he could and saw his son's killer standing before him, his face almost unrecognizable with the amount of damage Levi had done to him.

He felt a small spark of pride at this.

But he couldn't get over the look of absolute wrath on his face. But that was soon blocked by barrel of the gun.

Levi, who had once felt fear for his death, now felt little to nothing.

But before it all ended, he had one last thought before his own death.

'Lord,'He prayed,'Please...save the rest of them. Save my family.'

 **BANG**

X.x.X.x.X.x

Louis was hot. He was sweating and he felt sick.

When he fell asleep, he wasn't feeling so good, and it only appeared to have gotten worse. His stomach felt bubbly and nauseous. And his head was hurting.

He could only tremble from the pain.

He started to awaken when he heard thunder.

The first one roused him a little.

The second one made his eyes flutter.

And the final one made him open his eyes.

The child was confused when he saw that they weren't in that basement anymore but they were outside.

He looked around and his confusion only grew when he saw people he didn't know, two of which were holding onto his mom, who was crying really badly.

"Mom,"He called out weakly.

She didn't seem to hear him.

"Mom,"He called louder.

Her head whipped around to him and widened in horror.

"Louis!"She whispered in dread.

"Mom what's going on?"He asked when he started to sit up from his position on the ground.

"Louis, you have to run! Run away!"

His brow crinkled as he felt his confusion twist into fear.

"What?"

"You have to listen to me baby,"She said urgently,"Get up and run, as far and fast as you can, run!"

"Mom you're scaring me."He said with tears in his eyes.

"Well well well, look who woke up."

Louis looked at the man who spoke, his face heavily bruised and beat up.

"Too bad for you, I would've wanted to stay asleep for the next part."The man shook his head as if disappointed.

"But then again, who ever said kids were rational."

Louis backed away as the man started to walk towards him.

"Stay away from him!"His mom yelled."Don't you touch!"

He never heard his mom sound so angry before, and it made him even more afraid.

"Oh,"The man seemed amused by this."Or what? What are you gonna do? Huh?"

He struck Joanna across her face and Louis recoiled at the violence done to his mother.

"You just keep your mouth shut and don't say a damn thing til your turn."

Louis let his eyes look all around for a way out of here. He was planning to run like his mom said when he saw something that halted his thought process.

On his back, was his brother. And he was staring straight at him, unblinkingly, with the light in his eyes dashed. Most prominently however was the round bleeding hole in his head.

Louis felt himself start to cry as he looked at his older brother.

"Elijah…"He whispered to the body.

The silence answered.

"Elijah!"He called.

Quiet.

His lip started to tremble as more tears poured from his eyes. No.

This couldn't be happening. This had to be a bad dream. It just had to be.

He blinked his blurry eyes rapidly and expected himself to wake up in his bed. He didn't.

No no no no!

"Elijah!"He yelled before he started to sob.

The man chuckled at the boy's misery.

"Oh ya like that huh?"He mocked,"Well, you're gonna love this!"

He stepped aside and gestured dramatically to the body behind him.

Louis looked over and he felt his previous sadness grind to a halt.

The boy wiped his eyes and cleared his vision as best as he can to really confirm what he thought he was seeing.

No, this couldn't be real...please don't let this be real.

"Dad?"He whispered.

He stumbled to his feet and ran over to his dad.

He fell to his knees and started to shake Levi's body.

"Dad. Dad wake up!"He yelled.

Levi stayed still.

"Dad please get up! Please, Daddy get up!"

That's when Louis saw it, and whatever hope he had died in his hear. Just like Elijah, a bloody bullet hole was placed in his head and his eyes stared ahead, dull, unseeing, lifeless.

The boy's eyes widened and his pupils shrank as he looked upon his father's dead body. He sat back and crawled away from the corpse.

He didn't say anything, all he did was stare.

"Louis,"Joanna called out to him,"Louis close your eyes, don't look!"

"No no, let him look,"The killer said passively."It won't hurt nothing. Of anything, I think this is good for the boy."

Joanna snarled at him.

"Shut up! Just shut up! You're gonna pay for this! I promise you are!"

The man laughed, actually laughed, at her threat.

"That's funny."He said wiping his eyes."That's real funny. You're in no real position to make threats here."

He once more pointed his gun to Joanna, but this time she glared back, her eyes full of anger.

"I think I've actually had enough of you."The man sneered at her."You can go join your mutie husband and son in hell."

"Graah!"

The man was taken by surprise when Louis suddenly pounced on him, his eyes wild and little fists flailing sporadically against the man's back.

He looked to Joanna with humor in his eyes.

"All the males in your family seem to react the same way before they're gonna die."He frowned."That just makes this boring."

He turned and swung and the back of his hand hit Louis and made him stumble away to the floor.

The boy held onto his stinging face and looked back at the man with hatred burning in his gaze.

"Aww look at that face,"The man taunted."So angry, I think I can push things a little further."

He turned to the one standing furthest away.

"Jonesy, grab him, I want him to see his face when I shoot his mother."

Jonesy raised his brow in question.

"Isn't that a little far, I mean, he's still just a kid."

The man shook his head.

"He's not a kid. He's a mutant. We can't be fooled, they can take any form that they want to trick us. Just remember, the sooner we get this done, the safer we make this country."

Jonesy looked down at the kid once more and any pity in his heart was quickly scrubbed away.

"Right!"He said absolutely and started to march towards him.

Louis backed away in fear but stopped when a sharp pain shot through his stomach through the rest of his small body. He crouched in on himself and trembled again.

"Get away from him! Louis run please!"

The boy looked up to see his mother staring at him pleadingly.

He tried to answer her but another wave of pain shot into him making him cry with the intense pain.

"Louis go!"

'I can't!'He thought.

"Louis you have to r-"Another slap was earned from the killer.

"Just shut up already!"He yelled while continuing to hit her.

Louis peaked up when he saw the man hitting his mom again and the other guy was getting closer to him.

This was too much!

As Jonesy got closer he noticed something strange. The boy was starting to tremble. Now this wouldn't of been so strange if it wasn't for how violently the boy was shaking.

The trembling boy's image actually started to distort with how badly he was moving, like his molecules themselves were vibrating at an extremely fast rate.

This was cause for concern.

"Uh Ron,"Jonesy called back warily.

The killer stopped his assault on Joanna when he heard his name and looked over to Jonesy and saw Louis.

"What the hell?"Ron swore.

Louis grunted as the ground actually started to shake as well and the men still standing felt the vibrations in the ground.

"Oh damn…"Jonesy whispered.

"He's a mutant!"Ron yelled,"Just like I said! Quick get em before he-"

They never had a chance.

With a pained yell, Levi released a powerful shockwave from his body that sent everyone flying.

All the remaining men fell back to the ground unconscious.

Joanna slowly pushed herself onto her hands and knees and looked to her on son who was now at least ten meters away from her. The boy sat in a small crater and the trees around his actually seemed bent away from him from the force of the shockwave.

"Louis…?"She said in disbelief.

The boy looked up from his crouched position and looked down on his still vibrating hands in fear and confusion.

He turned his teary gaze to his mother's bruised face that looked at him in utter shock.

"Mom,"He called in a trembling voice."What's going on?"

X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X

 **Westchester New York-Xavier Institute**

The institute was starting to do well for itself. The old house had been refurbished and cleaned to make it look as good as new. And they were starting to get the word out about the institute and what it offered. Already that had started to get a call from multiple people seeking teaching jobs and parents trying to secretly enroll their children in the secret institute for gifted youths.

Things were starting to look up, but then again, that's usually when tragedy decides to strike.

Deep under the pristine school and all it's beautiful halls and rooms, a lone figure sat in his silver wheelchair and robe and slippers before a shining console and a chrome dipped helm attached to the console through thick wires.

The room was dark, the only light coming from the floating outlines of people that either shined red or white.

The man sat with his eyes closed and completely still as he focused his mind on the disturbance that had awoken him.

He had been resting peacefully when he suddenly jolted awake by a sudden influx of thoughts.

His head pounded as he tried to fruitlessly sort through it all.

All he could make out was anger, fear, grief, and pain.

Which led him to his current place.

In the chamber that housed his most powerful tool, Cerebro, the device that allowed him to connect to every mind in the planet no matter where, he focused in on all this negativity and was utterly appalled at what he found.

He almost hurled at the horrific thoughts and feelings of the people in Chicago. The absolutely murderous and malicious intent of some of the rioters was so sickening he was tempted to reach out and forcefully stop them. But he promised he'd never abuse Cerebro like that.

His inner musings were interrupted when a knocking was heard from the metal door that sealed the chamber.

"Charles!"A shaky and panicked voice called for him.

Charles Francis Xavier opened his bright blue eyes and seemed to stare straight at nothing for a full minute.

"Charles!"The voice called again.

That snapped him out of his thousand yard stare and with but a thought he shut down the machine and pulled the helmet off.

The lights came on to show the brightly shining metal walls of Cerebro in it's dormant state.

Turning his chair around with the joystick on his right armrest he rolled forward to where the door automatically opened showing the concerned face of a thin lanky man with a large pair of thick rimmed glasses garbed in vertical striped red and white pajamas and brown slippers.

"Charles, we have a problem,"The man warned as soon as he saw his friend.

"I'm aware,"Charles said tonelessly.

'Of course you are,'The man thought with a roll of his eyes.

Realizing Charles could read his thoughts, the man winced.

"Sorry."He apologized. But Charles remained unresponsive.

"What are we gonna do?"He asked his friend and mentor.

The question sparked Charles's thoughts and after a few seconds of pondering, he immediately he felt a familiar resolve burn inside his heart.

"Come Hank,"Charles said as he started to roll towards the Elevator at the end of the hall."We have work to do."

Hank watched his friend roll by and caught the look in his eyes.

"That we do."He agreed and immediately followed.

X.x.X.x.X.x.X

 **Authors Note:**

 **Eyes burning. Hand pounding. Ow ow ow ow.**

 **So yeah, there it is after so long. Wow let's never be that late again. Hopefully.**

 **I'd...actually be very happy if someone wanted to talk to me about this Chapter. It was very interesting to write.**

 **So yeah, you already know, some feedback would be awesome. So don't be shy now!**

 **Seeya for the hopefully sooner chapter 3!**

 **Signed,**

 **GhostAngel14**


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